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Lithograph in colours, 1980, on Arches paper, signed in pencil, numbered from the edition of 50, published by Maeght Editeur, Paris, image: 94 x 59.7 cm. (37 x 23 ½ in.), sheet: 116.2 x 74.9 cm. (45 ¾ x 29 ½ in.)
Chagall met his first wife and childhood love, Bella Rosenfeld in 1910, before his first departure from Russia; she was a constant in both his life and his work thereafter, even after her death in 1944. In 1916, the couple had their first child, Ida. In this work, the woman in the vibrant red dress, depicted holding a young child and looking up to the cockerel in the sky, is thought to represent Bella holding Ida and the cockerel they look towards symbolises Chagall’s alter ego. Using Paris as the setting for this work is significant as it was a city full of fond memories for Chagall, who became captivated by it’s beauty when he first moved there from 1910-14. It is a sentimental place for him as he and his wife and daughter also lived in Paris together from 1923-40. Bella, who was the subject of many of Chagall’s works, is believed to also be represented in the image of the lovers, seen in the bottom left corner of the piece.
