Musician

1922

Marc Chagall

Associated Names
Marc Chagall

Artist, Russian, 1887 - 1985

The image shows curving lines and expressive forms creating an abstract representation of a figure playing a cello. The shapes suggest a merging of human and cello elements, where the body of the figure and the musical instrument become one. The abstract artwork evokes a musician immersed in their performance, with the f-holes of the cello resembling eyes and the bridge as a nose. In the background, a dotted texture adds movement and dynamism to the scene.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and drypoint

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1951.10.265

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Kornfeld 1970, no. 23, State c


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Claude Schaefer [1913-2010], Montevideo, Uruguay; sold 1950 to Lessing J. Rosenwald; [1] gift 1950/1951 to the National Gallery of Art.
[1] In Recollections of a Collector, 1976, p. 56-57, Rosenwald described being approached by a young man in South America who offered to sell his father’s collection of prints that he had brought with him from Germany. Rosenwald gives the year as 1951, but his appointment books confirm that it was actually 1950 - he left for Buenos Aires on 9 February 1950 and returned on 20 March 1950 (Library of Congress, Rosenwald Papers, Box 75). Rosenwald writes that he bought the entire collection of some 1100 prints and drawings, but as they had already been scheduled to be sent to Europe they came to the United States via Antwerp, arriving in the US in late April 1950. Rosenwald decided to keep about a quarter of the collection, destined for the National Gallery of Art, and donate the remainder to other institutions. The inventory log of Alverthorpe indicates that just over 300 works were accessioned there in May of 1950, inventory numbers 50.260-50.530, acquired from Claude Schaefer (Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, RG 45A1, Rosenwald Papers, Box 41).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1967

  • What is an Original Print?, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, OK, 1967.

Bibliography

1970

  • Kornfeld, Eberhard W. Verzeichnis der Kupferstiche, Radierungen und Holzschnitte von Marc Chagall. Band I: Werke 1922-1966. Bern: Kornfeld and Klipstein, 1970.

Markings

Verso, stamped in black ink: COMISION NACIONAL DE MUSEOS / Y MONUMENTOS HISTORICOS / JOSE LUIS BUSANICHE / SECRETARIO GENERALE

Wikidata ID

Q65361761

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