39 - MARC CHAGALL

MARC CHAGALL (1887 Peskowatik – 1985 Saint-Paul-de-Vence) Joshua and the Vanquished Kings (Josué et les Rois Vaincus), 1956 Etching, hand-colored on Arches deckle-edge paper (watermark). Copy 75/100. 29.5 x 23 (53.5 x 39) cm. Signed in the upper left corner of the plate, monogrammed in lead in the lower right corner, and numbered on the left. From the hand-colored deluxe edition of the major etching series on the Old Testament, “La Bible.” The sheet is slightly browned, and the corners on the reverse show signs of mounting. Marc Chagall is considered one of the most important painters of the 20th century and is often referred to as a “painter-poet.” His colorful, dreamlike visual worlds combine elements of Expressionism with motifs from the Bible. This sheet is part of Chagall’s “La Bible,” the most significant of his major etching series: 105 prints on the Old Testament, commissioned in 1930 by Ambroise Vollard and not published until 1956 by Tériade in Paris—a quarter-century elapsed between its inception and completion. Depicted is a scene from the Book of Joshua: After the Battle of Gibeon, the defeated kings of the Amorites are led captive before Joshua.