Description:The color, composition and execution of this work bring joy, peace, and nostalgia to the viewer. Bright warm colors with delicate painterly technique characterize this intimate loving scene between mother and young child. A deeply personal and soulful work, Chagall captures a cherished moment between a mother and child, as the inquisitive toddler wiggles in his mother’s arms. The mother patiently and observantly looks downward at her child. Similar to traditional nativity scenes, Chagall has made the scene take place outdoors and with animals present. Mother and child sit adjacent to an uncommonly pink house and whimsical purple and green tree. A resting donkey and dove look on at the loving pair as an unknown male figure sits near the house entrance. Chagall’s intentional color play is characteristic of his interest in expressing emotion and feeling through the color medium.
Created in 1954, Maternité is an exquisite original color lithograph noted ‘epreuve d’artiste IX/XV’ in pencil (aside from the edition of 300), in the lower left margin and signed by Marc Chagall (1887 – 1985) in pencil in the lower right margin. Published by Editions Galerie Maeght, Paris. Printed on Arches wove paper by Charles Sorlier under the direction of Chagall.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).
1) Sorlier, Charles, Chagall Lithographs, vol. V, listed and illustrated as image
CS 7 on pg 196.
About the Framing:
Conservation framed in a resplendent golden Renaissance-inspired moulding. The warm rich gold tones bring a graceful warmth to the vibrant colors within the work. All materials are museum quality and archival. Framing is completed with a white, linen-wrapped mat and a matching gold inner fillet set under an archival Plexiglas cover.
