A visual tour de force of a historic French landmark, Marc Chagall’s La Bastille (The Bastille), 1954 depicts the Place de la Bastille through Chagall’s dreamlike imagery and rich colors. Marking the location where the notorious Bastille prison once stood, the Place de la Bastille is a square in Paris with the July Column at its center, which commemorates the events of the July Revolution in 1830. A swath of crimson along the lower half of the image tapers into the head of a Chagallean cow at the right, while deep lavender and indigo mingle in the surrounding space. The juxtaposition between the fiery red and cool blues horizontally divides the July Column in the image, which visually evokes the fraught history marked by the column. Two figures at the bottom left of the composition lie so intertwined with each other that their bodies appear as one, sharing the same plump breasts, torso, and lower body. This amalgamation of figural bodies creates a visual allusion to the lives and histories intermingled at this landmark. The saturated colors and flowing composition of Marc Chagall’s La Bastille (The Bastille), 1954 not only yields a compelling and beautifully dynamic image but also commemorates the richly layered history of the Place de la Bastille.

Created in 1954, Marc Chagall’s La Bastille (The Bastille), 1954 is a color lithograph on Arches paper. This work is hand-signed by Marc Chagall (Vitebsk, 1887 - Saint-Paul, 1985) in the lower right margin. Numbered from edition of 50 in the lower left margin.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Marc Chagall’s La Bastille (The Bastille), 1954 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. Gauss, Ulrike. Marc Chagall: The Lithographs. The Sorlier collection. Edited by Ulrike Gauss et. al. New York: Distributed Art Publishers., Inc., 1999. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 111.
2. Mourlot, Fernand. The Lithographs of Chagall, vol. II 1957-1962. Monté Carlo, 1960. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 111.
3. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Marc Chagall’s La Bastille (The Bastille), 1954 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.