The Wedding (Hochzeit) from My Life (Mein Leben) by Marc Chagall is an exemplary work of graphic art, created in 1922 and formally published in 1923 as part of a significant autobiographical portfolio. This piece is a meticulous combination of etching and drypoint, techniques Chagall frequently utilized to capture the poetic intimacy of his memories. The portfolio from which it originates, Mein Leben, is classified as an illustrated book, containing twenty total etchings, fifteen of which incorporate the rich, velvety line characteristic of drypoint.
The use of etching provides the foundational structure, while the drypoint technique lends the print a profound textural depth, with burr adding softness and intensity to the shadows and contours. The image depicts a highly personal, symbolic scene of celebration—a wedding—rendered in the dreamlike, folkloric manner for which Chagall became internationally recognized. The composition is dynamic, merging semi-abstract figures and traditional Eastern European motifs to evoke the emotional resonance of the event rather than a strict realistic depiction.
Chagall, operating within the artistic milieu of his adopted French culture, produced this important graphic series during a pivotal phase of his career. Printmaking allowed him to explore the themes of identity, memory, and exile that permeated his work following his relocation to Paris. The intensity and detailed execution seen in The Wedding (Hochzeit) demonstrate the artist’s mastery of the medium. These seminal prints from 1922, published 1923, remain critical documents of modernist biography and visual storytelling. This impression of the work is held within the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), securing its status as a vital contribution to the history of illustrated books and modernist prints.
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