The Morning Tea (Le Thé du matin), plate XVIII (supplementary suite) from Les Âmes mortes

The Morning Tea (Le Thé du matin), plate XVIII (supplementary suite) from Les Âmes mortes by Marc Chagall, created in 1923, is a major work within the artist’s prolific Illustrated Book classification. This graphic print, characteristic of French cultural production in the early 1920s, demonstrates Chagall’s technical precision in the combined mediums of etching and drypoint. This supplementary plate was created as part of the ambitious project commissioned by Ambroise Vollard to illustrate Nikolai Gogol’s satirical novel, Dead Souls (Les Âmes mortes).

Although the scene depicts the seemingly commonplace domestic activity of having tea, Chagall’s rendition transforms it into a moment charged with psychological tension, utilizing the deep, dark lines characteristic of drypoint to evoke texture and mood. Unlike the more whimsical, colorful works for which he is often known, Chagall employed a stark, high-contrast style for this series, relying heavily on shadow and fragmented figures to align with the novel’s critique of provincial Russian society. The expressive line quality and distorted forms reflect the artist’s engagement with contemporary avant-garde movements while maintaining his singular dreamlike narrative vision.

The comprehensive work, created over the period of 1923-48, confirms Chagall’s mastery in translating complex literary themes into graphic arts. This specific print resides in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, underscoring its recognized importance in the history of Modernist printmaking. The enduring legacy of these illustrations means that reproductions of these sophisticated prints are often digitized and available through public domain resources, furthering the study of Chagall’s critical print output.