Beschreibung:

MARC CHAGALL Selbstbildnis mit lachendem Gesicht. Etching and drypoint, 1924-25. 275x215 mm; 10 3/4x8 1/4 inches, full margins. One of only several known artist's proofs, aside from the edition of 100. Signed and inscribed "essai" in pencil, lower margin. A superb impression. Chagall (1887-1985, see lots 354-371) was born in present-day Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire, to a devoutly Jewish family. He learned to draw in primary school and from a local artist before continuing his studies in St. Petersburg. In 1910, having found a patron to support him, Chagall moved to Paris and settled within the bohemian avant-garde community of painters and poets in Montparnasse. Under the influence of the Expressionist and Cubist artists, in addition to the Fauves and Impressionists he viewed in the museums, in Paris Chagall was encouraged to explore his nontraditional style. During the 1910s Chagall's palette grew more colorful and saturated and he became known for his figurative elements in arbitrary, dreamlike compositions inspired by Russian or Yiddish folklore and culture. Chagall held his first solo exhibition in Berlin in 1914 and continued to paint through World War I. After migrating between Russia and Berlin, Chagall and his family again settled in Paris, where he learned engraving. Ambroise Vollard commissioned him to create a series of etchings in 1923 and after the initial project, Chagall returned to printmaking throughout his long and prolific career. Kornfeld 42.