Homage to Gogol. Design for curtain for Gogol festival by Marc Chagall is a highly significant drawing executed in 1917. This vibrant work serves as a preparatory study for a grand theatrical curtain, created at a pivotal moment in both the artist’s career and world history. The design celebrates the great Ukrainian-born Russian writer Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852), whose dark, satirical, and often surreal tales deeply resonated with the emerging Russian avant-garde. The creation date, 1917, places the piece amidst the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, a time when avant-garde masters like Chagall were briefly commissioned to contribute theatrical and decorative designs for public festivals and state cultural celebrations.
The artwork utilizes a combination of gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper, techniques that allow for both saturated color application and spontaneous, expressive detailing. Chagall employs his distinctive visual lexicon, characterized by compositions that defy logic and conventional gravity. The design is filled with blocks of saturated color illustrating figures that float and mingle in space, including musicians, symbolic animals, and villagers. These elements frequently reference the world of Russian Jewish folk culture and the fantastical, often grotesque, imagery found in Gogol’s narratives. As a drawing, this work reveals the rapid, foundational pencil lines beneath the washes of paint, detailing the artist’s initial intent for the eventual large-scale curtain.
Although the iconography of the work is deeply rooted in Russian tradition, the artist’s prolific career and extended residence in Paris firmly positioned him within the trajectory of Modernism and the French artistic milieu. This piece is a vital example from the turbulent 1917 period, documenting Chagall’s temporary engagement with revolutionary public art. Recognized as a foundational classification of Drawing, the original Homage to Gogol is held within the esteemed collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). As a celebrated masterwork, high-quality prints derived from this design are frequently sought by collectors, reflecting the enduring global appeal of Chagall’s lyrical and innovative style.
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