Bouc rouge lisant au-dessus des amoureux au repos is a beautiful example of Marc Chagall’s mature romantic and lyrical output. Painted in 1971 when Chagall was settled in the Côte d'Azur in the South of France, the present work displays the influence of the geography his adopted homeland had upon him while beckoning back to his beloved hometown of Vitebsk in present day Belarus. The cypress-like tree, rolling hills and flowering bush in the present work resemble the flora and fauna of the French countryside, rendered in the saturated greens, yellows and blues of the region. Yet the fantastical characters and farm animals recall his agrarian upbringing, grounded in the Jewish faith and the folkloric traditions of his native village. In this work, we see all of Chagall’s characters come together in a single image, as if the painting is a self-referential homage to the artist’s past.
Marc Chagall, Memories of Childhood, 1924. The National Gallery of Canada, Ottowa. Artwork: © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Experimenting with stained glass in his late works, Chagall was inspired by the ancient art form with an undeniable modernism with the broad swaths of color and delineated areas of saturation which are apparent in Bouc rouge lisant au-dessus des amoureux au repos. In 1962, Chagall received his first commission for stained glass windows in the Abbell Synagogue in Jerusalem. He went on to design stained glass windows throughout the world, including the famous Peace Window at the United Nations in New York, Reims Cathedral in Northern France, and the church of All Saints in Tudeley, United Kingdom. Using these influences in the present work, Chagall extends his exploration of the intensities and varieties of color to the canvas. In the dreamlike composition of the present work, the definition between foreground and background is blurred by the mixture of colors, situating the goat as hovering above the lovers underneath. Positioning the figures on multiple planes, the present work at once recalls these stained-glass windows, creating an ethereal yet avant-garde scene for which the artist is most well-known.
Marc Chagall, Peace Window, 1964. The United Nations, New York. Artwork: © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Provenance
Estate of the Artist
Galerie d'Etraz, Lausanne
Private Collection (acquired from the above in 2002)
Sotheby's, London, February 9, 2011, lot 274
Acquired at the above sale by the present ownerExhibited
Solothurn, Galerie Schaer und Wildbolz, Marc Chagall, January 17–April 25, 1999, no. 316, p. 23 (illustrated)
Property from a Distinguished Private Collection
Ο◆118
Bouc rouge lisant au-dessus des amoureux au repos
stamped "Marc Chagall" lower right
oil and gouache on canvas
18 x 15 in. (45.7 x 38.1 cm)
Painted in 1971.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Chagall.
Estimate
$300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $381,000
Annie Dolan
Specialist, Head of Sale, Morning Session
+1 212 940 1288
adolan@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction 15 November 2023
126
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137
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145
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