MARC CHAGALL. "When Abdallah landed his net" from "A Thousand and One Nights", Gouache, oil pastel/colour crayon and graphite pencil glued on cardboard, 61x45 cm.

MARC CHAGALL France / Russia 1887-1985 "Abdallah the fisherman - When Abdallah landed his net, he saw a man in it, and he fled from the man, but he shouted at him from inside the net ..." from "A Thousand and One Nights " (IV) Signed ChAgAll. Executed in 1946. Gouache, oil pastel/colour crayon and graphite pencil on paper glued on cardboard, 61 x 45 cm.

The authenticity of this work has been kindly confirmed by the Comité Marc Chagall in Paris at its presentation on March 29, 2022. Photo certificate from the committee included.

PROVENANCE Collection Falk Simon, Gothenburg (purchased 1950),
thence by descent within the family,
Collection Erik Bjäringer, Djursholm (purchased 1974)

EXHIBITED Marc Chagall recent paintings, gouaches for A Thousand and One Nights, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York 1947, catalog no. 8 (with the title: "Abdallah-of-the-Earth catches Abdallah-of-the-Sea in his net"), Marc Chagall - Peintures - Gouaches - Aquarelles - Lavis - Eaux fortes, Konstsalongen Samlaren, 1, Birger Jarlsgatan, Stockholm 1951 , catalog no. 12-25 (= "Arabian Nights") Falk Simon's collection of paintings and drawings, Gothenburg Art Museum, 1955, catalog no. 41, Marc Chagall, Exhibition Organized under the auspices of UNESCO, Kunstverein, Hamburg, February-March 1959, Marc Chagall, Exhibition Organized under the auspices of UNESCO, House of Art, Munich, April-May 1959 Marc Chagall, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre - Pavillon de Marsan, Paris, June-Oct. 1959

LITERATURE Nils Ryndel: Falk Simon's collection of paintings and drawings, Gothenburg 1955, catalog no. 41 (VIII) in the list of works, depicted on page 26, Franz Meyer: Marc Chagall, Paris, 1964, page 478 the colorful painting "Abdallah the Fisherman", which is part of a series of thirteen gouaches from "A Thousand and One Nights". In this suite, the artist lets memories of his Eastern origins resonate with the dream visions that the text in the wonderful fairy tales evoked in his inner eye. Rarely has Chagall given his coloristic imagination and artistic virtuosity such free rein as in this spectacular painting.

The story of "Abdullah the fisherman and Abdallah the sailor" (= "Abdallah-of-the-Earth and Abdallah-of-the Sea") was told by the Persian queen and storyteller Scheherazade on the 940th to 946th night. The story begins with a poor fisherman named Abdullah who has a large family, but who does not manage to catch any fish for several days. After being encouraged by his wife, he throws his net into the sea again. This time he pulls in a male mermaid (merman), also called Abdullah. They both become friends and business partners. Their business is starting to flourish….

MARC CHAGALL It was on the same day that Germany invaded the Soviet Union, on June 23, 1941, that Chagall landed with his family in New York after leaving Europe via Marseille and Lisbon. The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, in New York had sent an invitation via Varian Fry, head of the Emergency Rescue Committee, and Harry Bingham, United States Consul General in Marseille. In New York he re-established contact with Fernand Léger, André Masson, Piet Mondrian and André Breton and Pierre Matisse, who now became his art dealer until the exhibition at MoMA in 1946.

A few years later, in 1944, Chagall's beloved wife Bella fell ill and she died suddenly. For Chagall, the grief overwhelmed him and he did not touch a brush for almost a year. Only in the spring of 1945 did he return to his canvases and paint two works, "Around Her" and "Wedding Candles", as a tribute to his deceased life partner.

During the winter of 1945-46, Chagall settled in High Falls, in the northeastern part of New York State. In the spring, MoMA arranged a large retrospective exhibition of Chagall's work for more than 40 years. This exhibition was followed the following year by a number of similar exhibitions in Europe, at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Tate Gallery in London, the Kunsthaus in Zurich and the Kunsthalle in Bern. Chagall's dream was to return to Europe again, which he finally did in 1948 when he settled in Orgeval, France.

In Chagall's paintings, we encounter both a highly personal world of images populated by relatives and friends and a more universal one, which can be applied to the general public. With a great deal of tolerance and openness, he approached the big questions in life with a not exclusive but inclusive outlook on life. Despite his orthodox Jewish background, which he constantly adhered to, he also drew his motives from other religions.

It was in High Falls that Chagall performed the thirteen gouaches with motifs from the Eastern folk tale "A Thousand and One Nights", a series described by the art historian and Chagall expert Franz Meyer as "a series of gouaches considered to be the most unique works he performed in the United States ”. The paintings thus occupy a very prominent place in the artist's late production.

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