Lot 86 D

Marc Chagall and Valentina Brodsky, known as Vava, found each other after the death of Chagall's first wife, Bella, in 1944. They met in the spring of 1952 and married that same year. In Vava, Chagall met a warm, beautiful and educated woman, who was herself an art historian and spoke a number of languages. Vava had a positive influence on Chagall's work in various ways - she was an inspiration and manager for the artist, who had long since achieved international fame at that point.

Our painting was created shortly after the couple's wedding and attests to a close, trusting bond. Chagall has painted the seated Vava in an almost incidental manner, thus investing the portrait with an unfeigned intimacy. The bold palette in blue, red, yellow and green demonstrates Chagall's unrestrained vitality and creative power during those days and simultaneously conveys the resonant poetry that characterises his unique oeuvre.