Marc Chagall (French/Russian, 1887-1985) Esquisse pour "Les fiancés à l'oiseau" (Le mariage), circa 1960 Pastel, oil, ...

Marc Chagall (French/Russian, 1887-1985) Esquisse pour "Les fiancés à l'oiseau" (Le mariage), circa 1960 Pastel, oil, India ink, and pencil on paper 15-3/4 x 10-7/8 inches (40.0 x 27.6 cm) (sheet) Signed lower right: Marc Chagall PROVENANCE: Private collection, Metairie, Louisiana; Private collection; Private collection, Washington, D.C., acquired circa 2006. This lot is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the Comité Marc Chagall, no. 2021020, dated April 12, 2021. Many of Chagall's figural works center on one of his most enduring and endearing themes, couples consumed by love, a result of his own undying love for his first wife, Bella. After marrying in 1915, they remained inseparable under her untimely death in 1944. Despite later remarrying in 1950, Chagall's love for Bella remained immutable and undiminished by his simultaneous affections for his second wife, Vava. Kept alive in his work, Bella's memory served as inspiration for all of his "brides", including the figure in the present work. Here we see Chagall's passion expressed urgently – his feelings rapidly scratched and flicked onto the paper in a flurry of emotion. His use of ink, pastel, and pencil, media that lend themselves to quick work, injects the composition with a sense of immediacy, a rush to capture a fleeting, beautiful memory of his beloved before it flies away like his figures. This haste was present throughout their courtship, as the two met by happenstance through a mutual friend, and it was love at first sight: "I dare not raise my eyes and meet his gaze. His eyes are now greenish-grey, the colors of the sky and water. I'm swimming in them, like in a river." – Bella Rosenfeld "She looks – oh, her eyes! ...Big, high, black! These are my eyes, my soul." – Marc Chagall HID12701242017