Marc Chagall’s Le Piège à Loups (The Wolf Trap), from Daphnis et Chloé, 1961 is one of the stunning lithographs within the illustrated Daphne and Chloe series that Fernand Mourlot considered to be one of "the most important graphic works that Marc Chagall has created thus far." Chagall dedicated three years to this project and undertook a series of lithographs that perhaps defined his career, making these pieces "a work of notable importance which, unquestionably, can be placed at the top of the list of illustrated works of our time" (Mourlot 131). Daphnis and Chloe, the two romantic heroes of Greek writer, Longus, are two childhood friends who undergo the trials and tribulations of growing up and, consequently, falling in love. Evoking the rich Mediterranean landscapes from which Chagall personally drew inspiration, this work is a masterpiece any Chagall enthusiast would admire.

Marc Chagall’s Le Piège à Loups (The Wolf Trap), from Daphnis et Chloé, 1961 depicts the part in Longus’ Daphnis et Chloé when Daphnis accidentally falls into a wolf trap in the midst of chasing one of his goats. Chloe eventually finds Daphnis in the wolf trap and rescues him with her hair band, which foreshadows their eventual bondage in marriage at the end of the tale. In this way, Marc Chagall’s Le Piège à Loups (The Wolf Trap), from Daphnis et Chloé, 1961 depicts a plot point in the Greek tale that deepens the affection the two adolescents feel for each other. The landscape is rendered in a vivid and audacious yellow, evoking the heightened emotional distress of this scene as Daphnis awaits his fate in the wolf trap. Daphnis and the two goats are rendered in solid colors that not only make them easy to identify against the bright yellow background but also transform them into dreamlike figures typical of Chagall’s oeuvre.

Created in 1961, Marc Chagall’s Le Piège à Loups (The Wolf Trap), from Daphnis et Chloé, 1961 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 60 in the lower left margin.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Marc Chagall’s Le Piège à Loups (The Wolf Trap), from Daphnis et Chloé, 1961 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. 312.
2. Mourlot, Fernand. The Lithographs of Chagall, vol. II 1957-1962. Monté Carlo, 1960. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 312.
3. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Marc Chagall’s Le Piège à Loups (The Wolf Trap), from Daphnis et Chloé, 1961 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.