L'Elégie des Alizés
Marc Chagall
1969
Original color lithograph on Japon nacré impérial
47 x 36 cm
Annotated "épreuve d'artiste" lower left, signed by the artist in pencil lower right
Maeght éditeur, Paris.
Catalog raisonné: Sorlier 589
"The artist composed a lithograph specially for this book[L'Élégie des Alizés, poem by L. S. Senghor], in 28x22cm format, which is presented as a frontispiece. This print is neither numbered nor signed in the book.
"Chagall, amused by the search for an exotic composition, engraved four small plates on the same theme. The bird, a sacred ibis, was inspired by a black sculpture. This is the first, and probably the last, time this animal takes its place in Chagall's bestiary. Chagall lithographe, Edition Sauret.
The radiant yellow background evokes the power of the sun and African nature celebrated in Senghor's poetry. The sacred ibis features prominently in the foreground of this composition, this time in red. Marc Chagall pays homage to the work of the poet of negritude, while inscribing it in his own aesthetic.
