Auktion 277 : Marc Chagall - Forty Paintings 17.06.2022

Marc Chagall – Forty Paintings Few artists manage what Marc Chagall has achieved: his works have imprinted them­ selves firmly into art history’s collective memory. It is, above all, their lyrical and playful gestures, incomparable iconography and obvious joie de vivre that make them so very unique and distinctive. Chagall developed his artistic repertoire early on and kept varying and changing it in different forms and techniques. A seeker all his life, he was never at a loss to try out new things and adapt them for his works. As a painter-poet he belongs to the most important artists of the 20 th century and is considered one of the main representatives of figurative expressionism. His painting style can be interpreted as an amalgam of various artistic trends such as Fauvism, Russian folk art and Jewish mysticism. The imagery is often fantastical and points to the surreal. It is a great honour that Galerie Kornfeld has once again been entrusted with a special auction of works from part of the artist’s estate. Consisting of small and medium format paintings of great expressiveness, some are presented to the public for the first time. They are an impressive testimony of the creative power of the artist, who knew how to reinvent himself in a familiar form right into old age. Thus, an exciting group of works has come together that covers all the artist’s techniques and interests, spanning the entirety of Chagall’s long and blessed life. Following the special catalogue Marc Chagall – Works on Paper published last year, the present catalogue provides a remarkable record and an attractive overview of Chagall’s preoccupation with painting from the 1950s onwards.