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拍品专文
The Comité Chagall has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Executed in 1937-38, the exquisite Clown musicien is a large gouache that captures the lightness and optimism that prevailed in Chagall's life during this Indian Summer before his departure for the United States. This atmosphere was captured mainly in his circus-themed pictures of the period, which burst with a new-found confidence and exuberance. Part of this optimism may have been due to Chagall's gaining French citizenship in 1937, an event that briefly dispelled the clouds of worry that were gathering.
This period, which resulted in some of the greatest and strongest images of his career, marked a second peak in his career. During this time, Chagall consolidated many of the stylistic developments of the previous two decades, distilling from them what would become the signature style that would dominate his painting for the rest of his life and which is so clearly evident in Clown musicien. During the 1930s, themes related to Chagall's Jewish heritage had greatly dominated his output, including religious commissions for publications and synagogues. The carnival of characters that feature in the master-watercolours of the late 1930s provides an entertaining secular contrast to this. Instead, the works from this period are infused with lyricism and joy. Likewise, in the image of the woman emerging from the musician's head, we see the theme of love that was so central to many of Chagall's paintings: this is a tribute to Bella, his beloved wife, and an intimate reflection of the degree to which she was his muse and inspiration, much as the woman here appears to dominate the mind and music of the Clown musicien.
The Clown musicien is presented as an imposing yet benevolent figure, music and inspiration pouring from his head in the fantastical form of the woman and the horse. Here, instead of a larger tableau of the circus itself, Chagall presents a single character in delicious detail, reveling in the opportunity to showcase his formidable talents as a watercolourist. It is a just reflection of his success in this that Clown musicien is one of only a small number of post-Russian gouaches meriting a full page illustration in Franz Meyer's landmark 1963 monograph on the artist, a tome that remains forty years later the one of the most authoritative sources of information about Chagall and his work.
Executed in 1937-38, the exquisite Clown musicien is a large gouache that captures the lightness and optimism that prevailed in Chagall's life during this Indian Summer before his departure for the United States. This atmosphere was captured mainly in his circus-themed pictures of the period, which burst with a new-found confidence and exuberance. Part of this optimism may have been due to Chagall's gaining French citizenship in 1937, an event that briefly dispelled the clouds of worry that were gathering.
This period, which resulted in some of the greatest and strongest images of his career, marked a second peak in his career. During this time, Chagall consolidated many of the stylistic developments of the previous two decades, distilling from them what would become the signature style that would dominate his painting for the rest of his life and which is so clearly evident in Clown musicien. During the 1930s, themes related to Chagall's Jewish heritage had greatly dominated his output, including religious commissions for publications and synagogues. The carnival of characters that feature in the master-watercolours of the late 1930s provides an entertaining secular contrast to this. Instead, the works from this period are infused with lyricism and joy. Likewise, in the image of the woman emerging from the musician's head, we see the theme of love that was so central to many of Chagall's paintings: this is a tribute to Bella, his beloved wife, and an intimate reflection of the degree to which she was his muse and inspiration, much as the woman here appears to dominate the mind and music of the Clown musicien.
The Clown musicien is presented as an imposing yet benevolent figure, music and inspiration pouring from his head in the fantastical form of the woman and the horse. Here, instead of a larger tableau of the circus itself, Chagall presents a single character in delicious detail, reveling in the opportunity to showcase his formidable talents as a watercolourist. It is a just reflection of his success in this that Clown musicien is one of only a small number of post-Russian gouaches meriting a full page illustration in Franz Meyer's landmark 1963 monograph on the artist, a tome that remains forty years later the one of the most authoritative sources of information about Chagall and his work.