MARC CHAGALL (French/Russian/American 1887-1985) A DRAWING, "Pointing out the Route (L'Indication de la Route)," done between 1921-1927, pencil and charcoal on paper, signed "Marc" L/L and "Chagall" L/R. 12 1/4" x 9 1/8" NOTE: Marc Chagall began making etchings in 1921. After moving to Paris soon after, Ambroise Vollard attempted to commission a set of etchings for a deluxe "livre de peintre." Chagall was open to the commission, but suggested Gogol's Dead Souls (Les Ames Mortes) as an alternative text. In the end, Chagall created 96 etchings to illustrate the novel between 1923 and 1927. The etchings for the Dead Souls,executed between 1923 and 1927 and printed in 1927, were stored in Ambroise Vollard's warehouse. But his untimely death, and Chagall's flight from German-occupied France kept them from being published until 1950 when an edition of 285 was produced, each signed by the artist. To this day the series remains a great modern masterpiece, highly sought after by collectors. Reference: http://dariapolichetti.com/image-process-2/ An etching of similar composition is used as the cover for the Italian printing of Dead Souls (Le Anime Morte), currently printed by Studio Gustalla Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Edizioni Graphis Arte, with text by Floriano de Santi. Reference: http://www.guastalla.com/en/publications/marc-chagall2 Later known as The E.H. Bresler Gallery, established in 1882, Frank Durbin and Phillip Poposkey opened an art gallery, located at 729 North Milwaukee Street, in downtown Milwaukee. They added rare prints and paintings from Frederick Layton's personal collection. Both men retired in 1889. At that time they relinquished control of the business to a Manitowoc native by the name of Frank H. Bresler, who logically renamed the gallery the F.H. Bresler Gallery. The F.H. Bresler Gallery quickly became the premier place for Milwaukeeans to buy original art. This was due in no small part to the fact that the Bresler family made many art buying trips to Europe to enhance the gallery inventory. Frank Bresler died in 1931, and his daughter Gertrude took over the family business. She maintained control of the business until 1955, when she made the decision to sell the family business. Reference: http://www.breslergallery.com/about.html

Yellowing tone to the paper throughout with darkened edges. Paper now mounted to mat. Some mild edge and corner wear, some mild creasing in lower left corner, and one small tear at left in foreground. Overall in good to very good condition, wear commensurate with age.

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