Lot Essay
This is one of nineteen gouaches from the Cirque Vollard series which was commissioned from Chagall by Ambroise Vollard in 1927. Vollard had recently requested Chagall to execute a series of similar circus scenes to illustrate the Fables of La Fontaine. The later series was based on the Cirque d'Hiver which Chagall visited many times during the winter of 1926-27, watching and sketching the performance from Vollard's box.
The circus was a source of profound inspiration for Chagall, prompting him to declare "These clowns, bareback riders and acrobats have made themselves at home in my visions. Why? Why am I so touched by their make-up and their grimaces? With them I can move toward new horizons" (M.Chagall, Le Cirque, New York, Pierre Matisse Gallery, 1981), and further "it is a magic word, circus, a timeless dancing game where tears and smiles, the play of arms and legs, take the form of a great art" (M.Chagall, op.cit.).
Sold with a photo-certificate from the Comité Marc Chagall dated Saint-Paul, le 10 mai 1996.
The circus was a source of profound inspiration for Chagall, prompting him to declare "These clowns, bareback riders and acrobats have made themselves at home in my visions. Why? Why am I so touched by their make-up and their grimaces? With them I can move toward new horizons" (M.Chagall, Le Cirque, New York, Pierre Matisse Gallery, 1981), and further "it is a magic word, circus, a timeless dancing game where tears and smiles, the play of arms and legs, take the form of a great art" (M.Chagall, op.cit.).
Sold with a photo-certificate from the Comité Marc Chagall dated Saint-Paul, le 10 mai 1996.