Chaval Bleu au Couple - Blaues Pferd mit Paar

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Original color lithograph by Marc Chagall, printed at Mourlot, Paris. Published as one of the original lithographs bound into Derrière le Miroir No. 250 (the celebrated final issue of the Galerie Maeght art journal), Paris 1982. Sheet: 38 × 28 cm (15 × 11 inches). A deeply personal work created for the closing issue of the most important art publication of the post-war Paris art world — an outstanding example of the original Chagall–Maeght collaboration. Marc Chagall (7 July 1887 – 28 March 1985) was one of the most celebrated and beloved artists of the 20th century. Born Marc Zakharovich Shagal in Vitebsk, Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire), he trained in Saint Petersburg before moving to Paris in 1910, where he became part of the vibrant avant-garde of Montparnasse. Drawing on Jewish folk tradition, Russian culture, and the imagery of his Belarusian childhood, Chagall developed a uniquely dreamlike visual language infused with lovers floating above villages, fiddlers on rooftops, animals, angels, and mystical biblical scenes. Associated with Fauvism, Cubism, and Surrealism — yet belonging to none — he was the quintessential 'School of Paris' master. His work is held at MoMA in New York, the Tate in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Guggenheim, and the Musée National Marc Chagall in Nice, inaugurated in 1973. He remains one of the most sought-after names in 20th-century prints, with original lithographs consistently coveted by collectors worldwide. This original color lithograph was created by Chagall specifically for Derrière le Miroir No. 250 — the final and valedictory issue of the legendary Galerie Maeght art journal, published in Paris in 1982. Derrière le Miroir (DLM) was founded by Aimé Maeght in 1946 and ran for 36 years, publishing 253 issues: each one containing original lithographs created directly on stone by the artists themselves and printed at the Mourlot studio in Paris. DLM was not a reproductions journal but an artist's publication in the fullest sense — its lithographs are original works of art, not facsimiles. No. 250 was conceived as a tribute to Aimé Maeght (1906–1981), who had died the previous year, and to the entire creative legacy of the Maeght gallery. Chagall, as Maeght's most iconic and longest-standing artist, contributed this luminous image of floating lovers — the 'cheval bleu au couple' — as a farewell to a creative partnership of four decades. The lithograph was printed at Mourlot in an edition corresponding to the journal's print run of approximately 5,000 copies. Each sheet was folded and bound into the journal; unfolded, it presents as a complete, self-standing original lithograph. A deeply significant work for any collector of Chagall or of the history of the School of Paris. In excellent condition. Colors vivid and unfaded. No tears, creases, or foxing. Ready to frame.

Marc Chagall – Cheval Bleu au Couple · Original Color Lithograph · Bound into Derrière le Miroir No. 250 (Final Issue) · Galerie Maeght, Paris 1982

Mourlot 993