MARC CHAGALL

Witebsk 1887 – 1985 Vence

Le Roi David. Blatt 67 aus der Folge „La Bible“. In Gelb, Rot und Zartorange aquarellierte Radierung, 1931-1956/58.
Sorlier-Vollard 266. Aus Cramer Bücher 30. – Expl. 93/100. Monogrammiert sowie mit dem Namenszug in der Platte. Auf kräftigem chamoisfarbenem Vélin d’Arches. 31,5 x 24,4 cm (Blatt: 53,3 x 38 cm). Breite Ränder gering gebräunt, mit vereinzelten winzigen Stockflecken und geglätteter Eckknickfalte (rechts unten).

Although it was not until the 1930s that Chagall began to develop his biblical picture cycle, he had been familiar from infancy with the Bible as the history book of the Jews. Like a string of pearls threading his childhood days, the Jewish festivals, full of secret expectations and pleasantly awesome thrills, constantly brought the Bible stories and characters to life again. As in the naive mythology of Christian children such figures as the guardian angel, the Virgin Mary, or even Father Christmas really and truly exist, so for little Marc only a flimsy screen divided his real world from the figures of the Bible: any night the prophet Elijah might have come down in his fiery chariot and landed in the backyard – only it was best not to watch him. This childlike naivete – that is, the ability to see through reality to the legendary background ..beyond it – is something Chagall has treasured all his life. There is nothing, it seems to him, to stop those heroes, holy men, and prophets from turning up in real life in a variety of disguises; all one has to do is recognize them, as Abraham did the angels.

In addition, another and much further-reaching idea, of ancient Jewish origin, lives in his heart. This is the idea contained in a wonderful Hasidic parable which tells that, when the flow of God’s love poured forth into the basin of the earth, it shattered into the myriad fragments of individual things, in each of which still lives a spark of the divine love. Thus even the most ordinary and commonplace thing preserves a mythical aura, which, if one is a painter, asks to be expressed in the process of transforming visible things by means of the „chemistry“ of painting. How much more, then, will not this mythical presence pervade animate life?

Out of such a variety of associations grew the pictures of the Biblical Message which were painted in Vence. They do not adhere very closely to the biblical text and often play quite freely with the biblical figures. The most astonishing example of this is offered by the picture here, King David. The figure of David was a perfect subject for Chagall’s roving fantasy. Not only was he a brilliant hero, killer of lions, and conqueror of Goliath, but also a great lover who, in his love for Bathsheba – who bore him the king of all kings, Solomon – did not stop short of crime. He was also a great singer and dancer, who eased the heartache of King Saul with his music, sang the poignant lamentation for his friend Jonathan slain by the Philistines, and entered Jerusalem singing and dancing before the Ark of the Covenant.