Artist: Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985)

Year: 1969

Medium: Color Lithograph, signed in pencil in the lower right margin.

Edition: Numbered from the edition of 75 in pencil in the lower left margin.

Publisher: Maeght, Paris

Dimensions: 24" x 20 1/2" (44 1/2 in x 38 7/8 in with frame)

Catalogue Raisonné: M. 594

This remarkable colorful print features bold imagery from Chagall's artistic oeuvre. Aptly titled La Chasse à L'Oiseau Bleu (Chasing the Blue Bird), this work conveys a loving couple embracing, as the woman reaches for a flitting blue bird. Chagall colors this woman's hair in a rich royal blue-green, the same hue in he outlines the blue bird. Curiously enough, this woman's hair, along with her partner's sleeve, appears bluer than the blue bird itself, clearly highlighting this couple as key figures within the composition. Beside this couple, quirky creatures roam the streets of a quaint village. In the lower right, we witness a figure that appears as if half woman and half rooster, while to the lower left, a creature that looks to be half goat and half man strides forward. Bursting with color, flowers surround the flying blue bird in the upper center, bringing to mind thoughts of prosperity and freedom. While the title suggests that the woman is trying to capture the blue bird, this piece can also be viewed as her releasing the bird into the open sky.

Created in 1969, this original color lithograph is numbered from the edition of 75 in pencil in the lower left margin and hand signed by Marc Chagall (Vitebsk, 1887 - Saint-Paul, 1985) in pencil in the lower right margin. This work was published by Maeght, Paris.