Chagall: Beyond Color

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olivier meslay

Dallas Museum of Art February 17–May 26, 2013 La Piscine, Musée d’art et d’industrie de Roubaix October 13, 2012–January 13, 2013 Accompanied by Marc Chagall: L’épaisseur des rêves, published by Gallimard, 2012

Acknowledgments In 1936 one of Marc Chagall’s paintings was first exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts during the Centennial Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture, and Graphic Art. And almost fifty years have passed since the Magic Flute was performed in Dallas with its magnificent Chagall designs. Chagall in many aspects has been present in the Dallas Museum of Art’s history and in Dallas public and private collections but his work has never had a proper exhibition.

When presented with the idea for this exhibition, DMA staff embraced the opportunity to explore Chagall’s interest in volume through his work in theater, ballet, dance, sculpture, and ceramics. We hope our visitors will enjoy this unique chance to see the magical works of art Chagall created throughout his life and to experience the endless variety of media through which he explored his own limits.

This exhibition would not have been possible without the combined efforts of many dedicated individuals. We would like to offer our deepest thanks to Chagall’s family, especially Meret Meyer, who has been instrumental in organizing so many things for this exhibition and who always welcomed us so warmly. We would also like to thank Bella Meyer and David McNeil for their encouragement during the preparation of the show. Special thanks go to Ambre Gauthier, at the Comité Marc Chagall, who helped us throughout the project.

I, personally, would like to express my gratitude to Bruno Gaudichon, Chief Curator of La Piscine, Musée d’art et d’industrie de Roubaix. For almost thirty years, I have had the pleasure of working and talking with him. Together we conceived the idea for this exhibition a long time ago, but without Bruno and his team Chagall: Beyond Color would not have been realized. He generously welcomed the Dallas Museum of Art as a partner, and he has been the driving force both in front of and behind the curtain. I would also like to acknowledge the great team at La Piscine, in particular Hélène Lathoud Panhard, Séverine Muteau, and all of the Roubaix registrars and preparators.

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Most especially, the Dallas Museum of Art is also grateful to the lenders to Chagall: Beyond Color, without whom the exhibition would not have happened: the Centre Pompidou (MusÊe national d’art moderne), Paris; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman, Oklahoma; and two anonymous lenders.

In addition, the DMA thanks presenting sponsor BBVA Compass for its support of the exhibition.

Each project undertaken at the Dallas Museum of Art represents the combined creativity and labor of many individuals. I am pleased to pay tribute to Tamara Wootton-Bonner, who has overseen both the publication and the exhibition with her poised attention; Brent Mitchell, who tirelessly organized so many aspects of the show; Jessica Harden, who designed the masterful display of the exhibition; and Joni Wilson-Bigornia, Elizabeth Donnelly, Eric Zeidler, and Jeff Zilm for their contributions. For the translation of my essay from French to English, I thank Chris Miller. Queta Moore Watson brought her vigilant eye to editing the text, and graphic designers Mandy Engleman, Rebecca Winti, and Natalia Daniels amazed us with their creativity and inventiveness. I owe a large debt to my colleague curator Sue Canterbury for her help with the exhibition, and to Hannah Fullgraf, McDermott Graduate Curatorial Intern, for her unflagging assistance. Hannah played a critical role during the last few months. Dallas Museum of Art interns Adrien Lenoir, Brittany Luberda, Alexandra Wellington, and Andrew Sears helped give shape to the project in its early stages. My last but enduring thanks go to Martha MacLeod, who provided daily help and guidance on this project and many others.

olivier meslay Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs Senior Curator of European and American Art The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art Dallas Museum of Art

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Chagall: Beyond Color marc chagall (1887–1985, fig. 1) is still seen today as a magician whose virtuosic use of light and color is the essence of his achievement. This perception is accurate but arbitrary. Like many of the great figures of the 20th century, Chagall approached his art through prisms so various that we have yet to catch up with him. His tireless curiosity and freedom of tone and vision allowed him to try out different forms of expression with a mastery that never ceases to surprise, while his creative ardor was never entirely fulfilled by the use of color and light.

This exhibition invites us to explore aspects of Chagall’s art that are less well

Fig. 1 marc chagall in St. Petersburg, 1910

known but also quite important. If one seeks an essential common denominator in the works presented at the Dallas Museum of Art, it is surely volume. We encounter it in an extraordinary variety of forms. From the artist’s earliest collaborations with Léon Bakst, who is of fundamental importance in theatrical art of the 20th century, to those with the Moscow State Yiddish Theater (fig. 2, cat. 9) and the many ballets that subsequently punctuated his life, the stage designs, costumes, and sets Chagall created are a series of raids on the third dimension. Although today we must resign ourselves to contemplating the maquettes of stage sets and the sumptuous costumes of Aleko and The Firebird in static isolation, they were once seen swirling across the footlights. We have thus forgotten not only the third dimension of Chagall but a fourth: his use of movement.

One of the motivations for this exhibition is also to present the little-known connections between Chagall and the Mexican, Hopi, and Zuni cultures he experienced while in exile in the United States during the Second World War. This aspect of his work is exhibited in the United States for the first time here and constitutes one of the major innovations of this show.

Although the theatrical aspect of his work is by nature ephemeral, his research in sculpture and ceramics produced works that are more permanent. After his return to France in 1948 from exile, Chagall discovered Vence, a town in Provence. There he made his first ceramics and subsequently his first sculptures. Until then, immaterial color had always taken precedence; now, suddenly, he was overwhelmed with the beauty of the French soil to which he had returned. Traumatized by the death of his wife, Bella, and his successive migrations, Chagall came to see clay as a

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Fig. 2 marc chagall with solomon mikhoels in Mazel Tov, 1921

study for the decoration of scholem aleichem’s mazel tov no. 1, 1919 cat. 9 (detail)

metaphor for his attachment to France and its countryside, which now defined his identity. After pieces molded on the wheel, and others shaped and painted, came his engagement with stone. During these years, Chagall also set about exploring the infinite variations of color afforded by stained glass and the tesserae of mosaic.

They were perhaps the most fertile years of his entire career—years in which he avidly explored every dimension of artistic creation.

This exhibition attempts to convey the sheer density of his exploration by retracing the chronology of Chagall’s quests, investigations, and discoveries. There can be no possibility of presenting in one place the prodigious ensemble that constitutes his oeuvre. The purpose is rather to suggest a new interpretation, allowing the spectator to confront Chagall’s tireless interest in volume, which erupted decade after decade throughout his life.

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marc chagall was born on July 7, 1887, in Vitebsk in Belarus in the heart of a large Jewish community, from which he inherited an inexhaustible source of inspiration and forms. In the winter of 1906–07, he moved to St. Petersburg, where he enrolled at the School of the Imperial Society for the Protection of Fine Arts; the successes he had there gained him the support of great collectors and patrons such as Maxim Vinaver. In 1909 he entered Léon Bakst’s class at the very liberal Zvantseva School, where his peers included the artists Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova and the dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky. While working on his own paintings—then at a very sculptural stage, as seen in The Seated Red Nude (cat. 1)—Chagall discovered the world of stage and set design, which had been revolutionized since the beginning of the century by Alexandre Benois, Serge Diaghilev, and Bakst.

On his arrival in Paris in 1911, Chagall found himself at the center of an unparalleled artistic effervescence. Meeting artists such as Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, Roger de La Fresnaye, Fernand Léger, Jean Metzinger, André Lhote, Louis Marcoussis, and André Dunoyer de Segonzac, he was immersed in discussions about cubist and futurist movements. He moved into the building known as La Ruche, not far from the home of poet Blaise Cendrars, and quickly gained the support of author and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire.

In June 1914 he left for Vitebsk, where the First World War caught up with him, and he was forced to stay. He married his beloved Bella there on July 25, 1915. In 1917 the Russian Revolution broke out, and old friends such as author and politician Anatoly Lunacharsky, who had been appointed Commissar for Education and Enlightenment, were propelled into significant positions in the new political class. By virtue of these friendships, Chagall was able to create a museum and school of popular art in Vitebsk in 1918. There he devoted much of his energy to the stage, working for the Jewish Kamerny Theatre and subsequently the Jewish Habima Studio, but also for the Hermitage Theatre and satirical theater. He created the sets for The Agents (fig. 3), The Lie, Mazel Tov, and Nikolai Gogol’s The Gamblers and Marriage. His most remarkable contribution was surely the decoration of the little auditorium of the Moscow State YiddishTheater (GOSET), known as “Chagall’s box.” It is a work of “total art.” Both monumental and choreographic, the decorations took over both stage and auditorium; actor and dancer alike became parts of the set. This totalizing,

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Fig. 3 the third-class train car in the agents, 1921

the seated red nude, 1909 cat. 1

enveloping vision was a constant throughout Chagall’s life in his work for the theater and ballet. Like the studies and maquettes for plays as different as The Agents (cat. 8) and Mazel Tov (cat. 9–10), many of his costume designs show both the visual influence of cubism and suprematism and a powerful deconstruction of theatrical habits.

Certain of these characteristics reemerged in the sets and costumes of Aleko (fig.

4, cat. 58), in the radically different context of Chagall’s exile in the United States.

Thanks to American journalist Varian Fry and diplomat Harry Bingham, Chagall was able to escape Nazi persecution, but he found it difficult to adapt to his new American life despite the presence of fellow émigré artists André Masson, Alexander Fig. 4 chagall with aleko dancers, 1942

study for backdrop for scene iii of aleko: a wheatf ield on a summer’s afternoon, 1942 cat. 58 (detail)

Calder, Fernand Léger, and André Breton, and, shortly afterwards, the loyal support of Pierre Matisse. The earliest works that he painted in 1941 were, for the first time in his life, somber and tormented. Then the Aleko ballet project materialized and with it the enticing prospect of working with choreographer Léonide Massine and dancer Lucia Chase. Chagall’s participation in the ballet was not confined to the creation of sets and costumes, as magnificent as these are. His deep knowledge of the theater, his work with Massine in bringing out the beauty of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s music, and his reading and rereading of Aleksandr Pushkin’s text seem to have been a thrilling experience for him. He and Massine both believed in the idea of the ballet as total art. Chagall dictated certain choreographic sequences to Massine and imposed a new geography on the theatrical space that enhanced the interaction between choreography and set. It was on this scale that Chagall’s capacity to imagine his creation as a world of three dimensions is most brilliantly manifested. Indeed, it was Chagall’s desire to fully realize this symbiosis and his determination to intervene at every level of design that led to the making of the set and costumes in Mexico. Chagall and Bella moved to the San Angel quarter of Mexico City. More than three hundred people, including other émigrés from Europe such as the surrealists Remedios Varo and Esteban Francés, worked for more than a month to create this magical theatrical ensemble. Chagall combined the role of conductor of this visual cosmogony with a remarkable eye for detail—a touch of color here and there proving transformative. Not only did he create immense stage sets but he would, for example, alter the line of a costume so that it would move more easily in the theatrical space. Aleko had a lasting influence on his art; the monumental scale of the work afforded him a new liberty, which he brought to bear thereafter in the most diverse media.

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his profound knowledge of movement and volume was acknowledged by many different actors and spectators. The other revelation provided by the

mexican crucifixion, 1945 cat. 26 (detail)

play was the influence of popular Mexican culture on Chagall’s work. This is visible not only in the costumes but also in the works he painted in the wake of his stay, such as Mexican Crucifixion (cat. 26). Moreover, it seems that some of Chagall’s subsequent ceramics owe part of their inspiration to the pre-Columbian works he saw in Mexico, perhaps thanks to Remedios Varo. The première of Aleko at the Palacio de las Bellas Artes on September 8, 1942, was a triumph.

On his return to New York, Chagall was commissioned to undertake the sets and costumes for The Firebird (fig. 5). Here another culture influenced the creation of some of his costume designs: that of the kachina dolls of the Hopi and Zuni peoples.

Chagall extended his stay in America for three years after the end of the Second World War, by which time he was already a famous artist whose work was celebrated by a retrospective in 1946 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

His return to France in 1948 marked a powerful change in Chagall’s life and work.

His discovery of the city of Vence, near the coastal town of Nice, brought an end to his succession of migrations and with it a profound attachment to France. This love for the country and its history, concomitant with his growing links to the new Israeli state, was soon reinforced in very material fashion by his attachment to the soil of Provence and its rocks. For it was there, in 1949, that he made his first ceramics.

Before considering this part of his oeuvre and career, it is important to remember that an interest in ceramics was not what Chagall’s painting, history, or identity might have led one to expect. While multiplying his experiments with the most varied techniques, he devoted more and more of his time and work to illustrating biblical history, Jewish and Christian alike. Though his entire corpus is profoundly connected to his Jewish identity, its very existence is at odds with a religious tradition in which imagery and, to an even greater extent, sculpture are forbidden.

As critic Itzakh Goldberg wrote, “The philosophy and theology born of Judaism are, if not hostile, at least indifferent to any reflection on beauty and artistic production.

This is one of the points of discord between the famous couple Athens and Jeru-

salem—an ancient tension between Hellenism and Judaism.” 1 Chagall was well aware of this contradiction, and it is no coincidence that his major excursions into the third dimension were contemporary with his two voyages to Greece, perhaps the most important trips of the second part of his life.

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Fig. 5 chagall working on the f irebird, 1945

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the technique of ceramics, new to Chagall, came into its own during the 1950s (fig. 6). He began by painting on standard Provençal forms, but his imagination and creativity soon exhausted traditional canons. Forms deriving from the Mediterranean tradition were quickly enriched by Mexican influences, and above all by a tireless imagination not only for themes but also for figures, hollows, and reliefs (cat. 101–103). Chagall’s relationship with ceramics is not unlike that of Paul Gauguin, and it is no coincidence that he paid one of his relatively few tributes to another artist in his picture Homage to Gauguin (location unknown), a variation on the latter’s Te Rerioa (The Courtauld Gallery, London).

Chagall’s earliest painted ceramics were succeeded from 1950 onward by more originally shaped pieces, and in 1952 came the first wholly “sculpted” vases (cat.

89–90, 94). His large-scale ceramic compositions such as The Israelites Crossing the Red Sea, in the baptistery of the church of Plateau d’Assy, brought public recognition for this new technique in Chagall’s repertoire. During these same years, Chagall made his first sculptures under the overt influence of Gauguin and of medieval art; his first visit to the Romanesque abbey at Vézelay in north-central France in 1933 also proved important. The idea of capitals and columnar statues and the very nature of materials such as weathered Rognes stone contributed to renew his fascination with Romanesque art, which at the time was being celebrated in numerous publications. This aspect of his work has remained in the shadows and is only rarely exhibited.

The final manifestations of Chagall’s interest in volume and material came in the latter decades of his life: the marvelous collages created between 1960 and 1970.

These were not collages such as those the cubists made, with their focus on the picture plane and geometry, but an accumulation of materials, reliefs, and textures.

Even as one is astonished by the freedom and inexhaustible invention expressed in these small works, one recognizes their intrinsic link with painting. Many of them were transposed into large paintings as though the adventure of the third dimension was, in Chagall’s work, inevitably connected with that of painting and color.

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two women, 1953; nude with raised arms, 1953; the offering, 1953 cat. 101–103 Fig. 6 chagall with ceramics in vence, france, c. 1950s

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Fig. 7 chagall with the paris opera ceiling, 1964

Finally, in 1964, as if marking a culminating point and homage to his entire theatrical oeuvre, the commission to paint the ceiling of the Paris Opera (also known as the Opera Garnier) signaled Chagall’s recognition as one of the greatest living

f inal study for the ceiling of the opera garnier, 1963 cat. 125 (detail)

artists: it was an apotheosis (fig. 7, cat. 125).

The whole of this relatively obscure aspect of Chagall’s work must be understood in light of his excursion into space through the byways of volume. It is as if what Apollinaire defined as supernatural in the work of Chagall was not merely the magical use of color and dreamlike references but also the creation of a veritable space into which the spectator steps—a space possessing the density of dream. note 1. itzhak goldberg, “la tentation de la troisième dimension,” in marc chagall. l’épaisseur des rêves (paris: gallimard, 2012), 22. the quotation was translated by chris miller.

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Checklist of the Exhibit ion

1.

The Seated Red Nude

1909

oil on canvas

33 1/8 x 45 5/8 in. (84 x 116 cm)

private collection

THE RUSSIAN JEWISH THEATER 2.

The Newspaper Seller

1914

oil on cardboard

38 5/8 x 30 7/8 in. (98 x 78.5 cm)

centre pompidou, paris, musée national d’art moderne / centre de création industrielle, gift of mrs. ida chagall in 1984

3.

Sketch for Feast Day or The Rabbi with a Green Lemon

1914

gouache and watercolor on paper

16 3/4 x 13 1/2 in. (42.7 x 34.4 cm)

private collection

4.

The Man with the Goat

1919

pencil, watercolor, and gouache on brown arches paper

14 1/8 x 10 3/8 in. (35.9 x 26.5 cm)

private collection

5.

Study for The Green Violinist

1917

pencil, gouache, and watercolor on paper glued on japanese paper

framed dimensions: 18 7/8 x 14 7/8 x 1/2 in. (47.9 x 37.8 x 1.3 cm)

private collection

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6.

Project for the curtain for the Jewish Art Theater: two goats

1918

pencil and gouache on thick brown paper

framed dimensions: 14 x 14 3/8 x 3/4 in. (36.8 x 36.5 x 1.9 cm)

private collection

7.

Sketch for The Dance (Jewish Art Theater)

1918–1920

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on graph paper glued on japanese paper

framed dimensions: 15 x 10 1/2 x 3/4 in. (38.1 x 26.7 x 1.9 cm)

private collection

8.

Study for the decoration of Scholem Aleichem’s The Agents

1919

pencil, india ink, and watercolor on paper

framed dimensions: 18 1/4 x 22 5/8 x 3/4 in. (46.4 x 57.5 x 1.9 cm)

private collection

9.

Study for the decoration of Scholem Aleichem’s Mazel Tov no. 1

1919

pencil, india ink, and watercolor on paper

10 x 13 3/4 in. (25.4 x 35 cm)

private collection

10.

Study for the decoration of Scholem Aleichem’s Mazel Tov no. 2

1920

pencil and watercolor on paper

framed dimensions: 25 x 21 x 1 1/8 in. (63.5 x 53.3 x 2.9 cm)

private collection

11.

Study for the costume for the actor Solomon Mikhoels in The Lie

1919

pencil, india ink, and watercolor on beige paper

10 5/8 x 10 5/8 in. (27 x 27 cm)

private collection

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12.

Study for a costume in Scholem Aleichem’s The Agents

1919

pencil and gouache on crumpled yellow paper

10 3/4 x 8 1/8 in. (27.3 x 20.5 cm)

private collection

13.

Study for a costume for Mazel Tov: man with a spotted cloak

1920

pencil, gouache, and ink on beige paper

framed dimensions: 8 3/8 x 14 3/8 x 3/4 in. (46.7 x 36.5 x 1.9 cm)

private collection

14.

Study for a costume: man with a long nose

1920

pencil and gouache on yellow paper

framed dimensions: 18 3/8 x 14 1/2 x 3/4 in. (46.7 x 36.8 x 1.9 cm)

private collection

15.

Composition with Circles and with Goat (Jewish Art Theater)

1920

oil on cardboard laid on chipboard

14 5/8 x 19 1/2 in. (37 x 49.6 cm)

private collection

16.

Study for Introduction to the Jewish Art Theater: man urinating

1920

gouache, oil, and pencil on brown paper pasted on cardboard

14 x 6 7/8 in. (35.5 x 17.4 cm)

private collection

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PAST AND PRESENT 17.

The Bride with the Double Face

1927

oil on canvas transposed, relined

39 1/4 x 28 3/4 in. (99.8 x 73 cm)

private collection

18.

The Nude Above Vitebsk

1933

oil on canvas

34 1/4 x 44 1/2 in. (87 x 113 cm)

private collection

19.

Study for The Fall of the Angel

1934

oil on canvas, lined, mounted on wood panel

14 3/4 x 19 1/8 in. (37.5 x 48.5 cm)

private collection

20.

Study for The Fall of the Angel

1934

india ink and gouache on paper

16 7/8 x 20 7/8 in. (43 x 53 cm)

private collection

21.

Study for The Fall of the Angel

1934

india ink, pastel, and gouache on paper

framed dimensions: 17 1/8 x 18 3/4 x 1 5/8 in. (43.5 x 47.7 x 4 cm)

private collection

22.

Between Darkness and Night

1938–1943

oil on paper mounted on canvas

39 3/8 x 28 3/4 in. (100 x 73 cm)

private collection

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THE BALLET “ALEKO” IN MEXICO 23.

Listening to the Rooster

1942

gouache, black chalk, and pastel on paper mounted on japanese paper

19 1/4 x 13 3/4 in. (49 x 35 cm)

private collection

24.

Study for Spring Time

1942

gouache, watercolor, and india ink on paper mounted on chinese paper

21 1/8 x 14 5/8 in. (53.5 x 37 cm)

private collection

25.

Around Aleko (The Red Rooster)

1942–1945

gouache and pastel on laid paper

22 5/8 x 17 1/2 in. (57.5 x 44.5 cm)

private collection

26. Mexican Crucifixion

1945

pastel and gouache on rough arches paper

22 1/2 x 20 5/8 in. (57 x 52.4 cm)

private collection

27.

Costume for a gypsy with cards (Aleko, Scene II)

1942

painted silk taffeta dress

private collection

28.

Costume for a clown (Aleko, Scene II)

1942

top of painted cotton jersey, cotton gabardine with applications, and silk taffeta, cotton gabardine belt, and cotton jersey tights with applications

private collection

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29. Costume for a gypsy (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

dress of silk taffeta, silk faille with applications, and silk satin, and painted silk georgette shawl

private collection

30. Costume for a fish (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

painted nylon, cotton organdy, and wool jersey one-piece suit

private collection

31.

Costume for a rooster (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

painted nylon one-piece suit and painted nylon gloves

private collection

32.

Costume for Aleko (Aleko, Scene I, III)

1942

velvet jacket, embroidered silk shirt, embroidered wool pants, and elastic suspenders

private collection

33.

Costume for a candlestick holder (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

wool and silk satin jacket, painted wool pants, painted silk satin vest, and cotton shirt

private collection

34. Costume for a bandura player (Aleko, Scene III)

1942

painted cotton gabardine shirt with applications, and painted cotton gabardine pants

private collection

35.

Costume for a peasant (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

painted cotton shirt and painted cotton gabardine pants

private collection

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36. Costume for a bat (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

painted silk crepe cape, leotard, tights, and nylon mask

private collection

37.

Costume for Zemphira (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

silk chiffon blouse, and skirt of silk chiffon, tulle, and velvet with applications

private collection

38. Costume for a peasant (Aleko, Scene III)

1942

painted cotton gabardine dress and apron

private collection

39. Costume for a society woman (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

painted taffeta, leno silk, and tulle dress

private collection

40. Costume for Zemphira (Aleko, Scene I)

1942

painted silk crepe dress with embroidered silk taffeta and tulle applications and silk crepe shawl (version for alice markova)

private collection

41.

Costume for Aleko as a gypsy (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

silk taffeta shirt, painted wool vest, and painted wool pants

private collection

42.

Costume for a gypsy (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

painted silk satin dress and painted silk georgette shawl

private collection

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43.

Fox mask (Aleko, Scene II)

1942

paper on armature

13 x 9 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. (33 x 24 x 21 cm)

private collection

44. Costume design for a gypsy (Aleko, Scene I)

1942

gouache, watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper

16 x 10 1/4 in. (40.6 x 26 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

45.

Costume design for a fortune teller and a gypsy (Aleko, Scene I)

1942

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper

14 1/2 x 9 7/8 in. (36.8 x 25.1 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

46. Costume design for a birch tree (Aleko, Scene III)

1942

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper

14 5/8 x 11 7/8 in. (37.2 x 30.2 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

47.

Costume design for a rooster (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

gouache, watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper

16 x 10 3/8 in. (40.6 x 26.4 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

48. Costume design for a bandura player, a bear, and Zemphira (Aleko, Scene II)

1942

gouache, watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper

14 1/2 x 18 3/4 in. (36.8 x 47.6 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

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49. Costume design for a society girl (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper

16 x 11 7/8 in. (40.6 x 30.2 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

50.

Sketch for the choreographer for Aleko

1942

gouache, watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper

8 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (21 x 26 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

51.

Costume design for peasants (Aleko, Scene III)

1942

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper

20 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (53 x 36.8 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

52.

Costume design for a snake and a cow (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

gouache, watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper

14 x 9 7/8 in. (35.6 x 25.1 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

53.

Costume design for a candlestick and a society lady (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

gouache, watercolor, ink, and pencil on paper

11 7/8 x 14 7/8 in. (30.2 x 37.8 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

54.

Costume design for a bat (Aleko, Scene IV)

1942

watercolor and pencil on paper

16 x 11 7/8 in. (40.6 x 30.2 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

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55.

A Clown Playing the Violin

1941–1942

watercolor, pastel, and pencil on paper

24 3/8 x 19 1/4 in. (61.9 x 49 cm)

private collection

56. Study for backdrop for Scene I of Aleko: Aleko and Zemphira by moonlight

1942

gouache and pencil on paper

15 1/8 x 22 1/2 in. (38.4 x 57.2 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

57.

Study for backdrop for Scene II of Aleko: the carnival

1942

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper

15 1/4 x 22 1/2 in. (38.7 x 57.2 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

58.

Study for backdrop for Scene III of Aleko: a wheatfield on a summer’s afternoon

1942

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper

15 1/4 x 22 1/2 in. (38.7 x 57.2 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

59. Study for backdrop for Scene IV of Aleko: a fantasy of St. Petersburg

1942

watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper

15 x 22 3/8 in. (38.1 x 56.8 cm)

the museum of modern art, new york, ny. acquired through the lillie p. bliss bequest, 1945

30

31

“THE FIREBIRD�

60. Study for the curtain of The Firebird by Stravinsky: The Firebird

1945

gouache on paper

14 3/4 x 24 3/8 in. (37.5 x 62 cm)

private collection

61.

Study for the curtain of The Firebird by Stravinsky: the enchanted forest

1945

collage with paper, watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper

14 3/4 x 24 3/8 in. (37.5 x 62 cm)

private collection

62. Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: the red princess

1945

gouache on paper

framed dimensions: 38 x 29 7/8 x 1 1/8 in. (96.5 x 75.9 x 2.9 cm)

private collection

63. Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: the hunting

1945

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper

16 3/4 x 13 3/4 in. (42.5 x 35 cm)

private collection

64. Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: man with a water jug

1945

watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper

framed dimensions: 21 x 17 x 1 1/8 in. (53.3 x 43.2 x 2.9 cm)

private collection

32

33

65. Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: the warrior with a donkey’s head

1945

pencil, india ink, and gouache on paper

framed dimensions: 30 x 21 3/4 x 1 1/8 in. (76.2 x 55.3 x 2.9 cm)

private collection

66. Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: the dancer with a bird

1945

pencil, india ink, watercolor, and gouache on paper

framed dimensions: 22 1/8 x 17 x 1 1/8 in. (56.2 x 43.2 x 2.9 cm)

private collection

67.

Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: the mauve princess

1945

watercolor and gouache on paper

framed dimensions: 28 3/4 x 20 7/8 x 5/8 in. (73 x 53 x 1.5 cm)

private collection

68. Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: monster, Katschei’s guard

1945

watercolor, gouache, india ink, and pencil on cardboard

framed dimensions: 20 7/8 x 28 3/4 x 5/8 in. (53 x 73 x 1.5 cm)

private collection

69. Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: the blue and yellow monster,

Katschei’s guard

1945

watercolor, gouache, pencil, and india ink on paper

17 1/8 x 10 in. (43.5 x 25.5 cm)

private collection

70.

Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: woman monster

1945

gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper

18 1/8 x 12 3/8 in. (46 x 31.5 cm)

private collection

34

71.

Costume design for The Firebird by Stravinsky: the green monster in black stripes

1945

pencil, india ink, and gouache on paper

16 7/8 x 13 3/4 in. (43 x 35 cm)

private collection

72.

The Cemetery

1917

oil and pencil on linen

27 3/8 x 39 3/8 in. (69.5 x 100 cm)

centre pompidou, paris, musÊe national d’art moderne / centre de crÊation industrielle, dation in 1988

35

CERAMICS AND SCULPTURE 73.

Naked Cloud

1945–1946

oil on canvas

26 x 34 1/4 in. (66 x 87 cm)

private collection

74.

Self-Portrait with a Wall Clock

1947

oil on canvas

33 7/8 x 27 3/4 in. (86 x 70.5 cm)

private collection

75.

Moses at the Spring

1950

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, engraved with a knife and drypoint, underglaze

17 3/4 x 14 1/8 in. (45 x 36 cm)

private collection

76.

Christ on the Cross or Christ in the Night

1950

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides of white enamel

10 5/8 x 9 in. (27 x 22.8 cm)

private collection

77.

Lovers with a Goat

1950

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides of black slips

10 3/8 x 9 in. (26.5 x 23 cm)

private collection

78.

A Village at Sunset

1950

oil on canvas

29 x 27 3/8 in. (73.5 x 69.5 cm)

private collection

36

79.

Descent from the Cross or Deposition

1951

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, colored enamel applied with a brush

13 3/8 x 16 3/4 in. (34 x 42.5 cm)

private collection

80. The Two Faces

1951

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, engraved with a knife and drypoint, underglaze

15 x 9 3/8 in. (38 x 24 cm)

private collection

81.

Christ

1951–1952

limestone

20 1/2 x 9 3/8 x 5 7/8 in. (52 x 24 x 14.9 cm)

private collection

82. Lovers with a Bouquet

1951–1952

limestone

21 1/4 x 9 x 4 in. (54 x 23 x 10 cm)

private collection

83. Nudes or Two Nudes with a Goat

1951–1952

marble

15 7/8 x 6 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (40.3 x 17.2 x 11.4 cm)

private collection

84. The Woman on a White Horse

1952

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, engraved with a knife, underglaze

12 1/4 x 14 in. (31 x 35.5 cm)

private collection

37

38

85.

Rooster or A Woman and a Rooster or Woman Rooster

1952

painted limestone on marble stand

10 3/8 x 8 1/4 x 3 1/8 in. (26.3 x 21 x 8 cm)

private collection

86. A Woman with a Fish

1952

marble

10 3/8 x 13 x 6 1/8 in. (26.5 x 33 x 15.5 cm)

private collection

87.

A Couple with a Goat or The Lovers Lying

1952

marble

8 1/2 x 15 x 4 3/4 in. (21.5 x 38 x 12 cm)

private collection

88. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

1952

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, engraved with a knife and drypoint, colored enamel applied with a brush, glazed interior

height: 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm)

private collection

89. Sculpted Vase

1952

ceramic, engraved with a knife, oxides and colored enamel applied with a brush

height: 17 3/4 in. (45 cm)

private collection

90. The House

1952

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, engraved with a knife and drypoint, underglaze, glazed interior

height: 10 7/8 in. (27.5 cm)

private collection

39

91.

The Fantastic Beast or The Donkey or The Fantastic Horse

1952

bronze

20 1/2 x 31 1/2 x 7 7/8 in. (52 x 80 x 20 cm)

private collection

92. The Bastille

1953

oil and colored ink on canvas

31 7/8 x 39 3/8 in. (81 x 100 cm)

private collection

93. Landscape (recto) and Couple with a Bird (verso)

1952

limestone

20 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (52.1 x 36.8 x 24.8 cm)

private collection

94. The Peasant at the Well

1952

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, engraved with drypoint

13 x 8 5/8 in. (33 x 22 cm)

private collection

95.

The Dream

1952

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, engraved with a knife and drypoint, colored enamel applied with a brush, glazed interior

height: 13 1/8 in. (33.5 cm)

private collection

96. Self-Portrait

1952(?)

marble

15 1/2 x 15 1/8 x 2 3/8 in. (39.5 x 38.5 x 6 cm)

private collection

40

97.

Woman Rooster

1952

marble

9 1/4 x 10 3/8 x 1 1/8 in. (23.5 x 26.5 x 3 cm)

private collection

98. Woman Rooster

1952

bronze

9 x 10 1/4 x 2 5/8 in. (23 x 26 x 6.6 cm)

private collection

99. The Banks of the Seine

1953

oil on canvas

31 1/8 x 26 3/4 in. (79 x 68 cm)

private collection

100. In Front of Notre Dame

1953

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, colored enamel applied with a brush

16 3/4 x 12 3/8 in. (42.5 x 31.5 cm)

private collection

101. Two Women

1953

ceramic, decorated with oxides of white enamel, colored enamel applied with a brush

diameter: 16 in. (40.5 cm)

private collection

102. Nude with Raised Arms

1953

ceramic, decorated with white enamel on oxides

diameter: 15 3/4 in. (40 cm)

private collection

41

103. The Offering

1953

ceramic painted with slips and oxides

diameter: 16 in. (40.5 cm)

private collection

104. Sculpture-Column or Peasant Woman with a Cow and Animal

1953

marble

15 x 7 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. (38 x 20 x 19 cm)

private collection

105. Vase with Hand

1953

ceramic, decorated with oxides of white enamel, decorated with paraffin, engraved with a knife

6 1/8 x 7 7/8 in. (15.5 x 20 cm)

private collection

106. Two Nudes or Adam and Eve or Sculpture Column

1953

marble with gray veins

20 7/8 x 7 7/8 x 6 5/8 in. (53 x 20 x 17 cm)

private collection

107. The Louvre Carousel

1953–1956

oil on canvas

37 3/8 x 31 1/8 in. (95 x 79 cm)

private collection

108. Paris Between Two Banks or Two Rivers

1953–1956

oil on canvas

framed dimensions: 59 x 41 1/8 x 1 1/8 in. (149.9 x 104.5 x 2.7 cm)

private collection

42

109. The Chimera

1954

ceramic with white enamel decoration and oxides

height: 12 1/4 in. (31 cm)

private collection

110. For Vava

1955

gouache on paper

25 1/4 x 18 7/8 in. (64 x 48 cm)

private collection

111. The Lovers and the Beast

1957

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, engraved with drypoint

height: 12 3/4 in. (32.5 cm)

private collection

112. Couple with a Bouquet in Front of Saint Paul or A Couple in Vence

1958

ceramic

diameter: 12 5/8 in. (32 cm)

private collection

113. The Two Birds

1961

ceramic, decorated with glaze and oxides, engraved with a knife and drypoint, colored enamel applied with a brush

10 1/4 x 17 in. (26 x 43 cm)

private collection

114. The Walk

1961

ceramic, painted with slips and oxides, colored enamel applied with a brush, engraved with a knife and drypoint

height: 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)

private collection

43

115. Large Figures

1962

ceramic, decorated with oxides, engraved with a knife and drypoint, underglaze, glazed interior

height: 17 3/4 in. (45 cm)

private collection

116. The Betrothed (Blue)

1962

ceramic, decorated with glazes and oxides, engraved with a knife and drypoint

13 1/8 x 5 7/8 in. (33.5 x 15 cm)

private collection

117. Donkey, Fish, Moon, and Two Birds or The Hill

1966

jerusalem stone

17 3/4 x 20 1/8 x 3 1/8 in. (45 x 51 x 8 cm)

private collection

118. Two Birds and a Rabbit or The Hill

1966

jerusalem stone

18 1/8 x 20 1/4 x 3 1/8 in. (46 x 51.5 x 8 cm)

private collection

119. Birthday

1968(?)

marble

with base: 21 x 22 5/8 x 3 1/8 in. (53.5 x 57.5 x 8 cm)

private collection

120. The Madonna with the Donkey or Mother and Child

1968–1971

marble

24 3/4 x 12 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (63 x 32.5 x 16.5 cm)

private collection

44

121. Study for The Madonna with the Donkey

1971(?)

painted porcelain insulator, painted pebble, glue, and gouache on plywood on wooden base

7 7/8 x 4 1/4 x 2 1/8 in. (20 x 10.7 x 5.3 cm)

private collection

122. The Couple

1973

pink limestone

14 1/8 x 10 3/8 x 4 7/8 in. (36 x 26.5 x 12.5 cm)

private collection

123. Face and Animals

1970(?)

india ink on pebble

4 3/8 x 2 1/8 x 1 3/4 in. (11 x 5.5 x 4.6 cm)

private collection

124. Nude Woman and Lovers

1970(?)

india ink on pebble

3 1/2 x 2 1/8 x 1 3/8 in. (9 x 5.5 x 3.5 cm)

private collection

45

THE PARIS OPERA CEILING 125. Final study for the ceiling of the Opera Garnier

1963

gouache on paper on canvas

55 1/2 x 55 1/2 in. (141 x 141 cm)

private collection

126. Study for the ceiling of the Opera Garnier

1963

ink, pencil, and india ink on paper

13 1/8 x 13 1/8 in. (33.5 x 33.5 cm)

private collection

127. Study for the ceiling of the Opera Garnier

1963

pencil and india ink on paper mounted on canvas

31 1/8 x 31 1/8 in. (79 x 79 cm)

private collection

128. Study for the ceiling of the Opera Garnier

1963

india ink and pencil on paper

13 1/8 x 13 1/8 in. (33.5 x 33.5 cm)

private collection

129. Study for the ceiling of the Opera Garnier

1963

watercolor, gouache, india ink, colored pencil, and pencil on paper

17 3/8 x 14 1/2 in. (44 x 37 cm)

private collection

130. Study for the ceiling of the Opera Garnier

1963

pastel and india ink on paper

13 1/8 x 13 1/8 in. (33.4 x 33.4 cm)

private collection

46

131. Study for the ceiling of the Opera Garnier

1963

collage with felt, pastel, and india ink on paper

13 1/8 x 13 1/8 in. (33.5 x 33.5 cm)

private collection

47

COLLAGES 132. Sketch for The Clown and His Shadow or The Blue Violinist

1964

collage with paper, india ink, and print in color on paper

12 7/8 x 10 in. (32.7 x 25.4 cm)

private collection

133. Study for Rainbow

1967

collage of painted paper and fabric, gouache, india ink, and pastel on paper

9 x 9 1/2 in. (22.9 x 24.1 cm)

private collection

134. Sketch for The Tower of David

1968

collage with fabric, paper, and printed card on arches thick paper with gouache and pastel

10 x 7 7/8 in. (25.3 x 20 cm)

private collection

135. Sketch for The Comedians or The Violinist with Double Profile

1968

collage with fabric, pearl japanese paper with gouache, and oil on paper

13 1/8 x 10 in. (33.5 x 25.4 cm)

private collection

136. Hymn to Quai de L’Horloge

1968

collage with paper and mixed media

14 3/8 x 9 7/8 in. (36.5 x 25.1 cm)

private collection

137. Bride with Lace

1968

collage with paper and painted lace with gouache and india ink on paper

8 7/8 x 6 1/8 in. (22.5 x 15.5 cm)

private collection

48

49

138. Sketch for The Harlequin

1968–1971

collage with fabric, gouache, colored pencil, and ink on lithographed paper

11 1/4 x 9 in. (28.7 x 22.8 cm)

private collection

139. Dancer with Mauve Background

1970

collage with fabric, paper, watercolor, india ink, gouache, and pastel on paper

12 3/4 x 9 7/8 in. (32.3 x 25 cm)

private collection

140. Couple at the Red Goat

1970

collage with paper, pine tree needles, gouache, and india ink on paper

15 1/2 x 12 1/8 in. (39.3 x 30.8 cm)

private collection

141. Profile of a Rooster

1970

collage with paper, watercolor, and india ink on paper and tissue paper

14 x 11 1/2 in. (35.4 x 29.2 cm)

private collection

142. Profile of a Harlequin with a Green Horse

1970

collage with layering of gilded paper, watercolor, gouache, india ink, and pencil on arches paper

13 5/8 x 10 3/8 in. (34.7 x 26.5 cm)

private collection

143. The Blue Dream

1970

collage with tissue paper, lace, gouache, india ink, and pencil on paper

9 5/8 x 6 1/4 in. (24.5 x 16 cm)

private collection

50

144. The Flight of the Bride with Lace

1970

collage with paper, painted veil, pencil, colored ink, gouache, and india ink on paper

12 3/8 x 8 7/8 in. (31.5 x 22.7 cm)

private collection

145. Rider in the Flowered Skirt

1970

gouache, pencil, colored pencil, and india ink on paper

framed dimensions: 22 1/4 x 17 1/8 x 1 3/8 in. (56.5 x 43.5 x 3.5 cm)

private collection

51

This catalogue is published in conjunction with the exhibition Chagall: Beyond Color, on view at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, from February 17 to May 26, 2013.

Chagall: Beyond Color is co-organized by the Dallas Museum of Art and the Musée La Piscine de Roubaix.

The exhibition in Dallas is presented by Air transportation is provided by American Airlines.

The Dallas Museum of Art is supported in part by the generosity of DMA Partners and donors, the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

photography and copyright credits Cat. 1–145: © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Fig. 1, 4–6: Archives Marc and Ida Chagall, Paris; fig. 2: Courtesy of Jacob Baal-Teshuva, New York; fig. 3: Austrian Theater Museum, Vienna, PSA 299.497; fig. 7: Photo Izis Bidermanas, 1964

Published by the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

© 2013 dallas museum of art

olivier meslay, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, Senior

This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including

Curator of European and American Art,

illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections

and The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art

107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the

sue canterbury, The Pauline Gill Sullivan Associate Curator of

public press), without written permission from the publishers.

American Art

hannah fullgraf, McDermott Graduate Curatorial Intern, European Art

martha macleod, Curatorial Administrative Assistant, European and American Art

tamara wootton-bonner, Associate Director of Collections and

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meslay, Olivier.

Chagall : beyond color / Olivier Meslay. pages cm “February 17-May 26, 2013.”

Exhibitions

This catalogue accompanies the exhibition “Chagall: Beyond Color”

eric zeidler, Publications Manager

co-organized by La Piscine Museum, Roubaix, France, and the Dallas

giselle castro-brightenburg, Manager, Imaging Department

Museum of Art.

jeff zilm, Intellectual Property Administrator

ISBN 978-0-936227-03-0 1. Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985--Exhibitions. I. Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985.

Edited by queta moore watson, Senior Editor Designed by mandy engleman, Director of Creative Services Essay translated by chris miller

Works. Selections. II. Musée d’art et d’industrie de Roubaix. III. Dallas Museum of Art. IV. Title.

N6999.C46A4 2013 709.2--dc23

Printed by Millet the Printer, Dallas, Texas Typeset in The Sans

Cover: Study for the curtain of The Firebird by Stravinsky: the enchanted forest (detail), cat. 61 Inside front and back cover: Study for backdrop for Scene II of Aleko: the carnival (detail), cat. 57 Page 54–55: Costume for a fish (Aleko, Scene IV), cat. 30; Costume for a rooster (Aleko, Scene IV), cat. 31; and Costume for a clown (Aleko, Scene II), cat. 28

[FSC Logo (white background/ black type if possible)]

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ISBN 978-0-936227-03-0