After Chagall had completed the etchings for The Fables (1930), Vollard offered him again a commission, this time for a series of etchings illustrating the Bible. Chagall travelled to Palestine to get an impression of the country himself. At his return to Paris, he started working on the 105 etchings. The majority of the etchings was executed by Chagall between 1931 and 1939. The last pieces were completed between 1952 and 1956. The Bible was published as an edition of 275 signed and numbered portfolios and 20 portfolios hors commerce. There were also 100 copies of the portfolio with hand-coloring on paper with wide margins, each numbered lower left and initialed by Chagall lower right in pencil. Chagall’s Bible illustrations were called his most outstanding piece of his etchings (Robert Marteau).

Condition:
The hand-colored etching is generally in very good condition. The sheet is faintly visible toned in the margins. Soft handling creases in the lower margin, isolated small dirt spot in the right edge, otherwise of very good impression. The sheet is mounted loosely to a mat. The plate measures 29.7 x 25.5 cm, the sheet dimensions are 53.5 x 39 cm.

Marc Chagall (1887 – 1985)
The Russian-French painter Marc Chagall is renowned for his biblical motifs. He used the same, recurring symbols in his painted and printed works, as well as in his mosaics and in the windows and stage-sets designed by him. As one of the most important artists of the 20th Century the ‘painter-poet’ gave Expressionism a new character. After his first education at private art schools in Saint Petersburg he went to Paris in 1910 where he was involved in the avant-garde art scene. Apart from that, he was also inspired by visits to the salons, exhibitions and museums of this exciting city. After the First World War which Chagall spent in Russia he went to Berlin and later returned to Paris. Even after he had immigrated to America in 1941 he returned to his ‘ville lumière’ Paris in 1948. In his lifetime Marc Chagall received many commissions whose preparation and execution took him around the world. Already during his lifetime he was honored with numerous international exhibitions, retrospectives and art prizes.

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