Marc Chagall (1887-1985) - Psaume de David (PL.24)

A very beautiful impression in black on an ochre background.

Technique: etching and aquatint
Support: Arches vélin paper
Numbering: 14/40
Signature: Hand-signed
Sheet dimensions: 38.3 × 28.5 cm
Framing: gold moulding and acrylic glass

Condition: Very good condition

Authentication: Work sold with certificate of authenticity. Referenced under Cramer 109.

Information about the work:

David's Psalms occupy a singular place in Marc Chagall's oeuvre, as the natural culmination of a lifetime traversed by biblical spirituality and Jewish memory. Throughout his career, Chagall constantly drew on sacred texts—from the lithographed Bible realized with Tériade to the Jerusalem stained glass—and the Psalms, with their ardent lyricism and the constant tension between lament and praise, resonated deeply with his most intimate sensitivity.

This series devoted to this fundamental text stands out for its economy of means employed to achieve maximum intensity: floating figures, musicians, lovers and angels dissolve into an inner light that goes beyond anecdote to reach the universal. The black and ochre, the favored palette of these graphic works, imposes a sober gravity, far from the festive colors that made Chagall famous—and as if the subject itself imposed its own silence.

Rare and highly sought after by discerning collectors, the works from this cycle are among the most accomplished expressions of the artist's maturity. They bear witness to that uninterrupted dialogue between faith, memory and creation that Chagall was perhaps one of the few 20th-century artists to maintain with such consistency over nearly nine decades of work.