Inspired

Chagall first began making prints in 1922 in Berlin, where he was introduced to and inspired by the printmaking tradition of the German Expressionists. Yet it was not until the 1940s that he fully embraced lithography, a printing technique that allowed him to experiment with color, an essential element in his work. Chagall mastered the lithographic technique in Paris, at Mourlot Studios, and under the guidance of the exceptionally talented printer Charles Sorlier. The present work is a self-portrait of the artist at work. Chagall holds a palette and looks longingly at his own depiction of the Russian countryside which, as the title suggests, served as a major inspiration throughout his life and work. The domestic setting and the presence of an embracing figure behind the artist grant this work a nostalgic mood, revealing the profound link between imagery and personal memories that characterizes Chagall’s oeuvre.

Text credit: Produced in collaboration with the University of Maryland Department of Art History & Archaeology and Patricia Ortega-Miranda.