La fuite: coq et bouc au dessus du village by Marc Chagall

Marc Chagall
1887-1985 | Russian

La fuite: coq et bouc au dessus du village
The escape: rooster and goat above the village

Signature stamp of the estate "Marc Chagall" (lower left) Gouache, pastel, and graphite on paper

La fuite: coq et bouc au dessus du village is a deeply poignant work by Marc Chagall, created in 1962. In this composition, Chagall captures the profound personal and cultural turmoil he felt following the destruction of his hometown, Vitebsk, during World War II. The village, once a place of joy and nostalgia, is represented here through a nightmarish vision, with the horizon aglow in the orange flames of destruction. Though dramatic, the scene is imbued with Chagall's signature dreamlike quality, where reality and imagination intertwine to reflect the trauma of the times and the artist’s emotional response.

This work centers on symbolic elements long associated with Chagall's artistic vocabulary. A cockerel and a goat hover above the village, each bearing profound significance. The cockerel, often seen as a stand-in for the artist himself, symbolizes resilience, personal identity, and at times, love. The goat, central to Jewish sacrificial traditions, evokes themes of martyrdom and the suffering of the Jewish people, especially in light of the Holocaust. The church at the center, starkly illuminated amid the devastation, becomes a powerful symbol of spiritual endurance amidst chaos. Through his vibrant use of gouache and pastel, Chagall achieves a vivid, almost hallucinatory quality that heightens the emotional intensity of the scene.

Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Russia, to a large, close-knit Jewish family of herring merchants. He began studying painting in 1906 under the famed artist Yehuda Pen. In 1907, he moved to St. Petersburg and joined the school of the Society of Art Supporters. In 1910, Chagall relocated to Paris to be near the art community of the Montparnasse district, and he would eventually become a French citizen. Amongst the turmoil of the 20th century, including the Soviet regime and the outbreak of WWII, Chagall would continue to move between Russia, France and the United States throughout his life. Chagall's importance as a pioneering figure of modern art cannot be overstated. His imaginative compositions, often centered on personal memories, folklore, and religious themes, had a profound influence on the development of 20th-century art. Chagall’s use of color and form bridges the realms of Cubism, Surrealism and Symbolism while remaining distinctly his own. His paintings have remained prized highlights in public and private collections alike, with works belonging to important institutions across the globe including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Tate Modern in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Painted 1962

Paper: 29" high x 22 1/8" wide (73.6 x 56.1 cm)
Frame: 42 1/2" high x 39 5/8" wide x 3 1/2" deep (108.1 x100.5 x 9 cm)

Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Private collection, London

Exhibited:
Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Marc Chagall, 2003
San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Marc Chagall, 2003
Turin, Galerie d'Arte Moderna, Marc Chagall: un maestro del '900, 2004
Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Chagall entre ciel et terre, 2007
Zagreb, Klovicevi Dvori Gallery, Marc Chagall, 2007-08
Tokyo, Tokyo Station Gallery, Chagall: The Third Dimension, 2017
Aomori, The Aomori Museum of Art, Chagall: The Third Dimension, 2018