"The Fox and the Ram" Plate 124 From Les Fables De La Fountaine by Marc Chagall, Framed

Description

Title: The Fox and the Ram.
Artist: Marc Chagall, Russian (1887-1985 France).
Series: Les Fables de la Fontaine, Plate 124. … more Title: The Fox and the Ram.
Artist: Marc Chagall, Russian (1887-1985 France).
Series: Les Fables de la Fontaine, Plate 124.
Year: 1952.
Medium: Etching, signed in the plate.
Edition: 200.


Description: Offered is an impression of 'The fox and the ram', on Rives paper, linen matted under acrylic, antique gilt foliate carved wood frame. Etching is signed in the plate, see lower left. On reverse, Bowles/Sorokko Galleries - 447 W Broadway - New, York, NY 10012 label - Marked 'Chag 0832P - The Fox and the Billy goat - plate 124'.

Dimensions: Sight; 9 W x 11.5 H inches. Overall; Inner frame; 18.75 W x 21 H inches. Outer frame: 24 W x 1.75 D x 26.5 H inches.

About the work/subject/artist: The original work was produced by Chagall in 1927-30.

In early literature, foxes are always tricksters. The fox and the ram go for a walk, the ram inattentive to where they are going. In seeing a well, they jumped in to quench their thirst, but once in they could not get out. The fox instructed the ram to stand up straight against the wall, then the fox ran up his back. Once out, the fox ran off, but not before a sermon. Moral of the story, think before you act.

Chagall stands out as one of the most original artists of his age. Ironically, by the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the future Soviet Union had established an influential and highly valued tradition of modern art accomplishment, some might say highlighted by the avant-garde paintings of Russian expatriate Marc Chagall.
The pictorial symbols he created both enchant and captivate the viewer’s imagination, while completely avoiding anecdote.
Working in tandem with the great atelier of Paris, the Mourlot Studio, Chagall created graphics that have become as prized by connoisseurs and museums as his paintings. Today, Chagall's graphic collections stand as one of the greatest bodies of fine print-making in the history of art.

Provenance: Jacques Yves Lagarde (1938-2021), born in Rennes, France, executive vice-president of The Gillette Company, director general of the Emylon Business School (1972-1981), attended HEC Paris and Harvard University, last resided in Berkeley, California.

About the gallery: In 1982, Serge Sorokko became co-owner of the Bowles/Sorokko Galleries in San Francisco and, together with his business partner Franklin Bowles, opened a new two floor gallery on Rodeo Drive, in Beverly Hills. The Sorokko galleries, which by 1987 also included a location in New York City, exhibited works by the School of Paris as well as the next generation of European painters including David Hockney, among others. As regards Chagall, Sorokko played a major role in establishing the first cultural exchanges in the field of visual arts between the US and USSR during the period of perestroika. According to the NY Daily News, the gallery soon became "the place where celebrities hang out." less