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Cirque (cover/frontispiece), 1967
Colour lithograph on Arches paper
42 × 32 cm
Ex.-Nr. 9/24
Signed and numbered in pencil
Provenance:
Koch Gallery, Hanover
Private collection, Hanover
Private collection, Hanover
Literature:
Fernand Mourlot, Chagall: Lithograph, Bd. III: 1962-1968, MonteCarlo 1963, S. 126, WV 490.
Patrick Cramer, Marc Chagall: Catalogue raisonné des livres illustres, Genf 1995, Nr. 68.
Patrick Cramer, Marc Chagall: Catalogue raisonné des livres illustres, Genf 1995, Nr. 68.
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) is one of the most important painters of the 20th century and is also one of the great masters in the field of printmaking. In 1948, he was honoured with the Graphic Arts Prize at the Venice Biennale. Chagall began to explore the technique of colour lithography in 1950 in the studio of Fernand Mourlot (1895-1988) in Paris. Colour lithography soon became his preferred printmaking technique and an essential means of expression for him. Chagall compared the lithographic stone to a "talisman" in which he could harbour all his sorrows and joys.
In 1967, Chagall created an important series of colour lithographs on the theme of the circus. In addition to the book edition, an edition of only 24 signed and numbered copies with wide margins will be printed from this series.
The circus world is one of Marc Chagall's oldest subjects. He chose it as the subject of both his paintings and his graphic works right into old age. Like many artists of the early avant-garde of the 20th century, including Pablo Picasso, Amadeo Modigliani and André Derain, Chagall loved the circus and visited it regularly. As different as these artists worked, they all agreed that they no longer wanted to reproduce nature, but to create a new pictorial world. It is in this context that their interest in the virtual world of the showmen arises, in which the unity of art and life desired by the artists seems to be realised.
Chagall's colour lithographs are not exact depictions of circus events, but free pictorial inventions on the subject of the circus, which are mixed with the motif repertoire of his works (e.g. rooster, goat, bouquet of flowers, hybrid creatures, crescent moon, ladder). (Anette Brunner)
In 1967, Chagall created an important series of colour lithographs on the theme of the circus. In addition to the book edition, an edition of only 24 signed and numbered copies with wide margins will be printed from this series.
The circus world is one of Marc Chagall's oldest subjects. He chose it as the subject of both his paintings and his graphic works right into old age. Like many artists of the early avant-garde of the 20th century, including Pablo Picasso, Amadeo Modigliani and André Derain, Chagall loved the circus and visited it regularly. As different as these artists worked, they all agreed that they no longer wanted to reproduce nature, but to create a new pictorial world. It is in this context that their interest in the virtual world of the showmen arises, in which the unity of art and life desired by the artists seems to be realised.
Chagall's colour lithographs are not exact depictions of circus events, but free pictorial inventions on the subject of the circus, which are mixed with the motif repertoire of his works (e.g. rooster, goat, bouquet of flowers, hybrid creatures, crescent moon, ladder). (Anette Brunner)