On the Road (En Chemin), plate VII (supplementary suite) from Les Âmes mortes is an intricate graphic work created by Marc Chagall in 1923. This piece, executed using the demanding techniques of etching and drypoint, serves as a crucial component of a larger project: the illustrated edition of Nikolai Gogol’s classic 19th-century novel, Dead Souls (Les Âmes mortes).
The choice of etching and drypoint allowed Chagall to achieve a rich textural quality and dramatic contrast, emphasizing the starkness and movement inherent in the novel's themes. The plate number, VII, indicates its place within the supplementary suite of illustrations commissioned by the renowned Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard. Vollard specifically required a highly finished set of prints, demonstrating the rising market demand for artist-illustrated literary works. This major commission cemented Chagall's stature within the French artistic community during the extended production period of 1923-48, establishing the artist's profound contribution to the genre of the modern Illustrated Book.
The image On the Road (En Chemin) captures the itinerant nature central to Gogol’s narrative, likely depicting the isolated travels of the protagonist, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, as he traverses the Russian landscape. The composition utilizes dense cross-hatching and decisive, drypoint lines to create figures that appear burdened and adrift against an ambiguous, shadowed background. Although Chagall often incorporated personal, fantastical elements into his oeuvre, these illustrations for Dead Souls maintain a strong narrative connection to the source text. The visual complexity achieved through the printmaking process lends a nervous energy to the scene, highlighting the social and emotional anxieties of the novel. This seminal work, representing Chagall’s engagement with classical Russian literature through modern French printmaking, is held within the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
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