MARC CHAGALL

(1887 Vitebsk – 1985 Saint-Paul-de-Vence)
“La Baie des Anges”. Original title.

Color lithograph on Arches-Velin (with watermark), 1961/62.
Signed and inscribed “H.C.”. Printed by Mourlot, Paris.

Rare copy outside the edition of 50 artist’s copies numbered in Arabic and 25 numbered in Roman numerals on wide-margined wove paper. Catalog raisonné Mourlot 350.

This colour lithograph is one of the most beautiful examples of Marc Chagall’s poetic pictorial language, which is characterized by fairytale-like lightness and dreamlike fantasy – a form of expression that he developed particularly after 1945. At the same time, it is a declaration of love to his second homeland, France, where the Russian-born artist spent most of his life. After moving to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat near Nice in 1949, the Côte d’Azur was a central source of inspiration for his work.

In the sheet, a red-haired mermaid with a large bouquet of flowers floats above a deep blue sky, removed from her actual element. Below her, the sea stretches out with an oversized fish and the eponymous “Baie des Anges” (Bay of Angels) together with Nice’s famous “Promenade des Anglais”.

Chagall originally designed the composition as an advertising poster for the French tourist office to promote Nice and the Côte d’Azur internationally. This appeared in an unsigned edition of 5,000 copies with the explanatory text “NICE Soleil / Fleurs”, published by the French tourist office.

Dimensions: depiction approx. 78.1 × 57.2 cm; sheet approx. 95 × 65.8 cm. Framed.

Provenance: Private collection, Monaco.