Marc Chagall: Bible Stories

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Delve into the colourful and poetic realm of Marc Chagall and his depictions of stories from the Bible, this month at Eames Fine Art.

We are delighted to offer the rare, full set of original lithographs, from the 1956 and 1960 Verve publications. These are not merely illustrations of biblical stories, but evocations of human emotion and experience, drawn from the everyday life of the tumultuous times in which the artist lived in, from childhood in Russia to exile in America and France during the Second World War.

Chagall had the unique ability across his oeuvre to combine his ‘inner world’ and transport characters and memories from it onto the page with striking colour and fluidity of movement. These lithographs exemplify the subtle qualities of mark making which lithography affords for a great painter such as Chagall, whose unparalleled use of colour challenges any viewer not to be stirred in their presence.

The origin of these Bible lithographs reaches back to a 1931 commission from influential dealer Ambroise Vollard for a series of etchings depicting scenes from the Bible. In preparation, Chagall undertook his first pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a trip which bestowed upon him ‘the most vivid impression’ he had ever received, as well as a visit to Amsterdam, to view El Greco and Rembrandt. In 1948, editor and publisher Antoine Tériade commissioned a set of lithographs for his art review Verve for which Chagall created 16 original colour lithographs. Four years later, Chagall and Tériade devoted another issue of Verve to Bible illustrations entitled ‘Dessins pour la Bible’ (Drawings for the Bible), which featured an additional 24 original lithographs.