CHAGALL, MARC
1887 Vitebsk–1985 St. Paul de Vence

Title: Le peintre devant son chevalet.
Date: 1962.
Technique: China ink and wax crayon on Japan.
Measurement: 33 x 25.5 cm.
Notation: Dated and signed lower left: 1962. Marc ChAgAll. Verso inscribed by a hand other than the artist.
Frame: Framed.


The work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Galerie Rosenbach, Hanover, dated 14 June 1979, and an expertise from Galerie Boisserée, Cologne, dated 26 January 1998. In addition, the work will be presented in person to the Comité Marc Chagall on 16 June 2026.



Provenance:
- - Michel Brodsky, Paris (according to a certificate from Galerie Rosenbach)

- Galerie Rosenbach, Hanover

- Hans Renner, Hanover (purchased in 1979 at the 11th Art and Antiques Fair, Hanover, from Galerie Rosenbach)

- Galerie Boisserée, Cologne

- Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia (acquired in 1998 from previous owner)

- Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia (by inheritance)



- The iconic motif of the artist before the easel – a recurring theme in Chagall’s oeuvre

- From his mature period in the 1960s

- Rapid, expressive brushstrokes with vibrant colour contrasts



Born in 1887 in what is now Belarus, Marc Chagall is one of the most significant artists of the modern era and is regarded as a leading exponent of a poetic, figurative form of Expressionism. After training in St Petersburg, he moved to Paris in 1910, where he came into contact with the artistic avant-garde of his time and absorbed influences from Cubism and Fauvism. Early on, however, Chagall developed a distinctive visual language, shaped by memories of his Jewish heritage and Russian folk culture, as well as by a deeply personal symbolism. His works combine dreamlike scenes with floating figures and follow an individual, poetic visual language that defies clear classification within art history. After periods in Russia and Berlin, Marc Chagall emigrated to the USA as a result of Nazi persecution. In 1947, he returned to France. In addition to painting, he created a significant body of print work as well as numerous works in public spaces, including stained-glass windows and monumental ceiling paintings.

The 1962 print ‘The Painter at the Easel’ depicts a powerful, self-reflective scene. Dominating the composition is a large-scale profile of the painter in his characteristic hat, his face turned towards the act of painting. The round palette in the foreground becomes the visual centre, whilst on the right, a female nude is depicted on the easel – simultaneously a model and a picture within a picture. Loose lines in pen and brush, as well as deliberately applied coloured chalk in blue, red and green, create lively accents and lend the composition a spontaneous, dynamic effect. The background remains fragmentary and is criss-crossed by dynamic hatching. The work is exemplary of Chagall’s mature creative phase, in which he consolidates the motif of the artist as creator and intertwines reality with imagination.



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