Beschreibung:

MARC CHAGALL (1887-1985) L'offrande signed 'Marc Chagall' (lower left) pen and brush, India ink and gray wash on paper 23 3/4 x 18 in (60 x 45.5 cm) Executed in 1966 Fußnoten The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Marc Chagall Provenance Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne (acquired from the artist in 1967). William Findlay Chicago. Sale: Sotheby's, New York, November 12, 1988, lot 235. Galerie Tamenaga, Osaka, no. TJ3\0. Private collection (acquired from the above in 1989, and sold: Christie's, New York, May 7, 2014, lot 162). Acquired at the above sale by the present owner. Exhibited Lucerne, Galerie Rosengart, Chagall, Coloured Wash-Drawings, 1967, no. 24 (illustrated in the catalogue). Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Picasso, Werke von 1932-1965, February - April, 1967, no. 43 (illustrated in the catalogue). L'offrande was executed in 1966 during a highly important and prolific decade of Chagall's artistic career. He was of a mature age—on the verge of coming into his years as an octogenarian—and was still at the peak of his vitality and creative powers. Chagall was occupied undertaking numerous monumental commissions during this time: windows for the synagogue of Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem (1962); the now-renowned ceiling of the Paris Opera; the window for the United Nations building, New York (both 1964); murals for the Metropolitan Opera House, New York (1967); and the exquisite windows for the cathedral in Metz, France (1968). The present work on paper, L'offrande, was created by Chagall during a period defined by grand international projects, but it retains the immediacy and intimacy of a piece directly painted by the master's hand. The personal scale of this artwork is an essential counterpoint to his public commissions, attesting to an oeuvre of great depth and variety. The monochrome ink on paper enhances the depiction of a nocturnal scene enrobed in shadows and bathed in the milky, glimmering light of a crescent moon. Chagall has applied soft washes of inks to build the composition, and the beautiful simplicity of the black and white image allows the viewer to focus on form and distilled emotion. A voluptuous nude woman reclines on a chaise, modestly clasping a lush bouquet of flowers, echoing the classical motif of the Venus Pudica shielding herself from the gaze. The figure is adorned with a bracelet and double-stranded necklace, perhaps referencing Edouard Manet's Olympia. She appears restful and deliberate in her repose. The woman is the true center of the composition, and the art historical allusions imbue her with a stately quality. The second figure of L'offrande is a fully clothed man; he wears a suit and hat and jubilantly stretches his arms out, preparing to embrace the woman, his beloved. It appears that he has just arrived, and the woman has arranged herself in anticipation of this tryst, her lover's midnight visit. L'offrande translates to "the offering" and assists in describing the dynamic conveyed, of the joyful giving and receiving of passion and romance. The couple as lovers is one of Chagall's most triumphant and emblematic themes. L'offrande is immediately recognizable as a work by Chagall. The primary focus is on the ecstatic encounter between the two lovers, but his archetypal symbols of flowers and birds enrich the vignette and augment his unique perspective. Overt themes and recognizable icons bring us into the world of Chagall, but clear motifs are countered by nuanced elements. Poetry and music were cornerstones to Chagall. His visual language conveys an ethereal lyricism which is very much informed by a variety of art forms, from ballad to orchestral melody. Quite literally, the decorative fringe on the chaise resembles ledger lines and score of a musical arrangement. The entire composition is slightly tipped off balance at a diagonal angle, emphasizing the floating, oneiric quality of the work. Chagall's L'offrande was painted during a time of revolutionary s