Physical Dimensions: w23 x h27.5 cm (Without frame)
Exhibition: Caramulo, Portugal
Donated by:: Sociedade do Caramulo
Description: A painter, illustrator and designer of Russian Jewish origin, Marc Chagall was an artist who was somewhat tangential to the western avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, although he can be safely placed within the so-called “Paris School”. His singular universe is that of a world dominated by unreality, a sense of the fantastic, poetry and mysticism, sometimes lyrical, sometimes sombre, continuously accompanying the different moments of his own life, whether happy or tragic, yet always attentive to the miracles of colour in all his techniques. A designer of stage sets and costumes, and the creator of a series of stained-glass windows, mosaics and tapestries, Chagall also dedicated his energies to the production of ceramics. In the dish that is presented here, the artist revisits the classical myth of Leda and the Swan, drawn from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, providing us with a composition of gracious outlines. Here, the figures of a sleeping Leda and Zeus metamorphosed into a Swan are developed into a linear pattern that accompanies the curved edges of the piece, in the form of an arabesque that extends through the adjacent foliage and combines harmoniously with the delicate patches of blue, yellow and lilac, with a clear sense of lyricism.