Orphée

1969

Marc Chagall

Artist, Russian, 1887 - 1985

Created with tiny, colored stones and glass, this mosaic shows groups of people along and near the edge of a brilliant, topaz-blue body of water with a large, lemon-yellow, stylized sun in the sky in this horizontal composition. The aquamarine blue and vibrant yellow along with lime green, lilac purple, oyster white, and teal used in the people and landscape give this work a shimmering look. A pair of people recline together under a tree in the lower right corner. A sheep stands nearby, and a bird perches in the tree above. Beyond the tree and to our left, a cluster of box-like forms suggests a city in the distance. Larger in scale, so seeming closer to us, a man wearing a lapis-blue toga and a yellow cap holds a stringed instrument, a lyre, in front of his body. To the left, at the center of the composition, a trio of women each wearing amethyst-purple, magenta-pink, or lapis-blue dresses stand close to each other. They have long, dark hair and their bodies and garments are outlined in black. Between them and the large sun to our left, a winged horse with a buttercup-yellow body and turquoise-blue wings rears up. Near the upper left corner, the stylized sun is represented by a disk surrounded by pointed peaks, surrounded by a larger disk outlined with another ring of triangular points. A winged person holding a set of pan pipes flies above the sun to our left, over a small crescent moon below. Near the lower left corner, two groups of people gather around a body of bright blue water occupied by two fish. The artist signed and dated the work in the lower right corner: “MArC ChAgAll 69.” The mosaic is displayed outside in front of a screen of trees, with a band of bushes with green and orange leaves below.
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In 1968, Marc Chagall visited the Washington, D.C., home of his friends and patrons Evelyn and John Nef, and decided that he would design a mosaic for their garden. There the work remained until it was given to the National Gallery of Art by Evelyn (1913–2009) as part of a larger bequest.

The mosaic's large scale—approximately 10 by 17 feet and 1,000 pounds—is belied by its ethereal figures and shimmering surface. The colorful, layered narratives are loosely drawn from Greek mythology and from the artist's personal experience. At center, Orpheus charms animals with his lyre, accompanied by the Three Graces and the winged stallion Pegasus. In the bottom left corner of the mosaic, a group of people wait to cross a large body of water. According to Chagall, this alludes not only to the general immigration of Europeans to America, but also to his own experience: smuggled out of Nazi-occupied France by the International Rescue Committee during World War II, the Jewish artist found safe haven in New York. In the lower right corner, two lovers nestle in the greenery. Evelyn asked the artist if the figures depicted her and John; Chagall replied, "If you like."

Chagall turned to mosaics, stained glass, and tapestries in his later years, completing commissions for cathedrals and civic settings in Europe, Israel, and the United States. He designed the maquette for Orphée at his studio in France and hired Italian mosaicist Lino Melano, who created works for Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, and Georges Braque. Using Murano glass, Carrara marble, and naturally colored stones from Italy, Melano executed the ten-panel work and installed it on site in the Nefs' garden in Georgetown. In keeping with the Nefs' wishes, it reemerged on a specially built wall in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden in the summer of 2015.

Sculpture Garden, Northwest Quadrant
On View

Sculpture Garden, Northwest Quadrant


Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Created by the artist for the garden, and installed 1971, at the residence of John U. Nef [1899-1988] and his wife, Evelyn Stefansson Nef [1913-2009], Washington, D.C.; bequest 2009 to the NGA.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

lower right on 2011.60.104.10: MArC ChAgAll 69

Wikidata ID

Q62287702


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