Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Tough Act to Follow


This is a signed and numbered vintage Chagall litho.  In every other situation, framing this would be the highlight of my week.  However, this came in the same week as the Lautrec original from the previous post.  In fact, it was brought in by the same client--we designed the two pieces in the same afternoon.

The image is called Bella's Wedding and is especially appealling to me as it contains a calf that "evokes Chagall's memories of his native Hasidic community outside Vitebsk. In the village, peasants and animals lived side by side, in a mutual dependence here signified by the cow.  For Hasids, animals were also humanity's link to the universe."   This motif is most dominant in his 1911 masterpiece, I and the Village (below).



Many other classic Chagall symbols appear in Bella's Wedding:  the sprig, the bird, and Bella, herself.  She was Chagall's wife and he painted several images of her that represent a perfect expression of love.


The Birthday, 1915

Bella's Wedding was framed magnificently in a 4" wide Bolshoi frame, pale blue silken mat, and distressed broken-bead fillet, and museum glass.  This piece will be given the prominence it deserves as a focal point the client's home.

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