Marc Chagall - part 19

Marc Chagall in his Atelier 1945

Marc Zakharovich Chagall (born Moishe Zakharovich Shagalov 1887 - 1985) was a Russian-French artist of Belarusian Jewish origin. An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in virtually every artistic format, including painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints.

For more biographical information see part 1, and for earlier works see parts 1-18 also.

This is part 19 of a 28-part series on the works of Marc Chagall:

1959-68 Artist at his Easel
oil on paper laid down on canvas 55.5 x 49 cm
Private Collection

1959-68 Self-Portrait
oil on canvas
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

1960 Bateau-Mouche au Bouquet
colour lithograph on paper 38.1 x 30.5 cm

1960 Bouquet near the Window
oil on canvas
Private Collection

1960 Campanules
pencil, pastel, gouache and tempera on paper 72 x 52.5 cm

1960 Chagall Lithographs
Cover for Volume I
lithograph 30.5 x 52.1 cm

1960 Lovers with Red Sun
colour lithograph 48.3 x 33 cm

1960 Offering
lithograph 31 x 24 cm

1960 Our House, in my Village
colour lithograph 32 x 24.1 cm

1960 Paradise
colour lithograph 35.6 x 25.3 cm ( image )

1960 Paradise
colour lithograph 37 x 27 cm

1960 Paradise
colour lithograph 52.5 x 38 cm ( image )

1960 Place de la Concorde
colour lithograph 38.1 x 30.5 cm

1960 Profile and Red Child
colour lithograph on wove paper 31.9 x 24.1 cm ( sheet )

1960 Quai de la Tournelle
colour lithograph on paper 38.1 x 58.4 cm

1960 Self-Portrait
colour lithograph on wove paper 31.9 x 24.3 cm ( sheet )

1960 Still Life with Bouquet
colour lithograph on Arches paper 74.3 x 58.1 cm ( sheet )

1960 The Tree of Jesse
oil on canvas 33 x 24.1 cm

1960 The Tree of Jesse
colour lithograph 32 x 25 cm ( sheet )

1960 The Angel
colour lithograph 32 x 24.5 cm

1960 The Circus
lithograph 32 x 24.5 cm

1960 The Eiffel Tower Lovers
colour lithograph on Arches Wove paper 66.5 x 50.5 cm ( sheet )

1960 Vision of Paris
colour lithograph 29.6 x 21.5 cm ( image )

1960c Circus Woman
colour lithograph and stencil 79.7 x 63.8 cm ( sheet )

1960c Meditation
oil, gouache, pastel and charcoal on paper laid down on paper 58.5 x 45.7 cm
Private Collection

1960c Platter of Fruit
pencil, oil, pan and black ink on panel 13.3 x 18.1 cm
Private Collection

1961 Galerie Maeght poster, Paris
colour lithograph

1961 Couple with Sled at Sils
gouache and pastel on paper 65.6 x 47.8 cm
Private Collection

1959-61 The Twelve Tribes
Stained Glass Window designs:

In 1959, Dr. Mariam Freund (National President of the Hadassah) and Joseph Neufeld (architect who designed the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center) commissioned Marc Chagall to design the stained-glass windows for the synagogue that was to be part of the medical center. Each of the twelve windows would represent one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Chagall worked on the project for two years, with the windows ultimately exhibited in Paris in June of 1961 and at the Museum of Modern Art New York in the winter of 1961. In February 1962, they were permanently installed in the synagogue. Chagall created the lithographic series The Twelve Maquettes for the Stained Glass Windows for Jerusalem after the image of these original stained glass windows.

The twelve tribes of Israel represent the twelve kin groups of ancient Israel, who are each traditionally descended from one of the twelve sons of Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Upon Jacob’s death, the territory of Israel was divided amongst his twelve sons, designating the twelve tribes of Israel.

1959  The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Dan

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of  Binyamin

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Shimon

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Asher

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Gad

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Issachar

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Joseph ( Yosef )

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Levi

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Reuben

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Yehuda ( Judah )

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Zevulun

1959 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Naphtali

1962 Set of 12 lithographs of The Twelve Tribes designs:

1962 The Twelve Tribes
lithograph designs

1962 The Twelve Tribes
lithograph designs

1962 The Twelve Tribes
lithograph designs

These two sets of lithographs date from 1962 - In each case I have shown what I believe was a more sketchy version of a second more (finished) set:

c1962 The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Asher 
colour lithograph

1962 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Asher
colour lithograph 32.5 x 24.5 cm

c1962 The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Dan 
colour lithograph

1962 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Dan
colour lithograph 32.5 x 24.5 cm

c1962 The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Gad 
colour lithograph

1962 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Gad
colour lithograph 32.5 x 24.5 cm

c1962 The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Issachar 
colour lithograph

1962 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Issachar
colour lithograph 32.5 x 24.5 cm

c1962 The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Reuben 
colour lithograph

1962 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Reuben
colour lithograph 32.5 x 24.5 cm

c1962 The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Shimon ( Simeon ) 
colour lithograph

1962 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Shimon ( Simeon )
colour lithograph 32.5 x 24.5 cm

c1962 The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Yehuda ( Judah ) 
colour lithograph

1962 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Yehuda ( Judah )
colour lithograph 32.5 x 24.5 cm

c1962 The Twelve Tribes 
Tribe of Zevulun 
colour lithograph

1962 The Twelve Tribes
Tribe of Zevulun
colour lithograph 32.5 x 24.5 cm

1960-68 The Chagall State Hall, The Knesset,
Jerusalem:

The Chagall state hall is used for state receptions. The hall was designed and decorated by the Jewish artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985). Chagall designed for the hall 12 floor mosaics, one wall mosaic and three Gobelin tapestries.

Speaker of the Knesset Kadish Luz called on March Chagall in 1960 and requested that he provide the artwork the future permanent Knesset building. It was first discussed that he create murals or works of stained glass, as he had created for the synagogue at the Hadassah Hospital. Chagall, however, wished to attempt to create tapestries. Kadish Luz provided him with passages from the Bible, and Chagall worked them into his drawings. In December 1963 he suggested to make the Gobelins as a triptych – three paintings of the same theme, hanging side-by-side and comprising a whole. 

Chagall made the original paintings the same size of the future tapestries. The painting for the right tapestry was completed at the end of 1963, since he had made a similar painting – in different colors – for a stained glass window he made for the United Nations building in memory of the late Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld. 

The paintings for the centre and left tapestries were completed in the summer of 1964. It was then that the weaving of the tapestries began, at the “Atelier de la Manufacture des Gobelins” workshop in Paris. Prior to the work on the tapestries themselves, the workshop attempted weaving portions of the carpets for a year and selected 144 colours and shades to be used in their making. The weaving began in 1965 and continued until early 1968. 

The side tapestries are 4.8 meters high and 5.5. meters wide, and the centre is 4.8 meters high and 9.5 meters wide. Each tapestry was signed by the company and shows the signature of Chagall and the date of the painting. They were hung on June 18th 1969, in the presence of the President of the State.