Delivrance de Jerusalem

Chagall, Marc

123194 Chagall, Marc Delivrance de Jerusalem (Deliverance of Jerusalem) 1931-39 S. Plate 95, Isaiah 52:1-7 12 1/4'' x 8 3/4'' Etching with hand-coloring in watercolor on Arches wove paper. Initialled `M. Ch.' in pencil lower right, and numbered in arabic. From the edition of 100 with large margins (aside from the black and white unsigned edition of 275 and 20 hors de commerce on Montval). Published by Teriade for Verve. Sixty-six plates were printed by Maurice Potin and the additional thirty-nine were completed by Raymond Haasen. The copper plates were subsequently cancelled and given to the Musee National Message Biblique Marc Chagall in Nice. According to Jean Bloch Rosensaft, the watercolor used in the hand-coloring by Chagall was not random, "enlivening the surface and enhancing the emotional impact of the biblical message". Chagall used specific colors to convey the emotions and story he chose for each illustration for his Bible series: yellow, close to God; blue, contentment; red, evil; and green for envy. After Chagall completed the plates for Gogol's Les Ames Mortes and Les Fables de Fontaine for Vollard, in 1931 Chagall, again, responded to Vollard's suggestion to undertake a series of illustrations of the Bible. The media he chose again was an etching and in 1931 he traveled to Palestine to get a sense of the land itself. He also visited Amsterdam to study the Biblical etchings of Rembrandt in preparation for the series. Upon returning to Paris, Chagall began the project and for the next decade, from 1931-1939 he worked and completed sixty-six of the etchings before the untimely death of Vollard and war across Europe halted the project. In 1952, Chagall resumed work on the additional thirty-nine plates to complete the Bible series in 1956 for Teriade, the publisher. Chagall's Bible series consumed almost twenty-five years of his life. The most ambitious project he ever undertook, his passion was deliberate and some of the plates went through twelve state changes until he was completely satisfied. Of the Bible, this is what the Chagall said, "Ever since my earliest youth, I have been fascinated with the Bible. I have always believed…that it is the greatest source of poetry of all time…I have sought its reflection in life and art. The Bible is life, an echo of nature, and this is the secret I have endeavored to transmit." Even Meyer Schapiro, noted art historian, made the observation that Chagall was the ideal artist to have undertaken the task. "He has represented themes of an older tradition not in a spirit of curiosity or artifice, but with noble devotion. Although these etchings are marvels in patience, scrupulous craftsmanship…In almost every image we experience the precise note of his emotion, his awe or sadness or joy, which is voiced in the melody of shapes and the tonal scale peculiar to each conception. If we had nothing of Chagall but his Bible, he would be for us a great modern artist."

Reg. No.

123194

Size

12 1/4" x 8 3/4"

Year

1931-39

Medium

ETCHING

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