Marc Chagall
1887-1985 | Russian

Les fleurs des amoureux sur fond multicolore
(Lovers’ flowers on a multicolored background)

Stamped with signature “Marc Chagall" (lower left)
Gouache, tempera and lithographic pencil on paper

“You could wonder for hours what flowers mean, but for me, they’re life itself, in all its happy brilliance.” —Marc Chagall

This luminous work by the visionary Marc Chagall titled Les fleurs des amoureux sur fond multicolore highlights the master of color at his best. It features both a kaleidoscopic palette and Chagall’s most iconic motifs in a mesmerizing composition, epitomizing Chagall’s unparalleled ability to capture what he called life’s “happy brilliance.”

This vibrant work includes Chagall’s signature lovers, bountiful flowers and flying birds, all set against the domed-roof cityscape that alludes to his childhood in the rural town of Vitebsk. Each of these subjects radiates with its own magnificent color, further heightened by the brilliant swatches of primary color that form the background. This unique compositional technique shows the major influence that Chagall’s work in stained glass and mosaics had across his monumental oeuvre.

While Chagall’s wide-ranging artistic career showcases the influences of the Cubists, Supremacists, Surrealists and Abstract Expressionists, Chagall remained on the margins of these major movements. His aesthetics, subjects and visual explorations were always uniquely his own. His later works in particular are characterized by a rich use of jewel tones and expressive brushwork, in addition to even more personal and introspective compositions. Les fleurs des amoureux sur fond multicolore, with its dizzying combination of colors and recognizable cast of characters, perfectly encapsulates this highly desirable period of his work, drawing the viewer into the blissful haze of reverie.

Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Russia, to a large, close-knit Jewish family of herring merchants. He began studying painting in 1906 under the famed artist Yehuda Pen. In 1907, he moved to St. Petersburg and joined the school of the Society of Art Supporters. In 1910, Chagall relocated to Paris to be near the art community of the Montparnasse district, and he would eventually become a French citizen. Amongst the turmoil of the 20th century, including the Soviet regime and the outbreak of WWII, Chagall would continue to move between Russia, France and the United States throughout his life. Chagall died at the age of 97 in Saint-Paul de Vence, France, in 1985, leaving behind an incredible body of work that continues to demand the highest attention in the art world. Today, his works belong to the collections of prestigious museums across the globe including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Tate Modern in London and the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

This work is accompanied by its certificate of authenticity issued by the Comité Marc Chagall.

Circa 1978