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Dimensions: 150 by 160cm.
59 by 63in.
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Provenance: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above
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Exhibited: New York, Pierre Matisse Gallery, Marc Chagall. Recent Paintings 1966-1968, 1968, no. 24, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Paris, Musée du Grand Palais, Marc Chagall, 1969-70, no. 190, illustrated in the catalogue
Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght, Marc Chagall. Rétrospective de l'oeuvre peint, 1984, no. 68, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
London, Royal Academy of Arts and Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Chagall, 1985, no. 109, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
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Notes: Circus and theatre performances, with their archetypal characters and colourful, lively atmosphere, provided Chagall with a constant source of inspiration. Les Comédiens is a monumental work drawing its subject matter from commedia dell'arte, showing the two main protagonists in a vivid setting that combines the recognisable landmarks of Paris with the mystical animals from the world of imagination. The two travelling comedians are depicted in picturesque costumes, the woman holding a violin, while the man's face is hidden behind a mask reminiscent of ancient Greek theatrical conventions. The actors' presentation of comedy and tragedy stands as a metaphor of human existence, but for the artist their foremost significance is the joyous celebration of life and art.
In the preface to the exhibition of Chagall's paintings held at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York in 1968, Louis Aragon wrote about Les Comédiens: 'The Paris of Notre-Dame and the Eiffel Tower, again in faraway blues, is here at the right and center, between the buskins of the two figures; from the Pont Royal to the Pont Neuf one sees the Seine leading to Notre-Dame; and I am not going to describe the players, the man with the red mask, the woman, perhaps a bareback-rider, holding a violin against a yellow background, nor tell you that the cock appears above her like her shadow, and that the usual Chagallian bestiary, goats and horses, or perhaps horses only, floats between the figures along with the traditional bouquet, not to speak of still another bouquet held by a man. No comment is needed on this double image of the Theatre, a theatre that might be one of strolling players, like the tight-rope walkers who used to do their turn on the bridges of Paris three hundred years ago, or members of the wandering troupe of Captain Fracasse. I have my secret reasons for liking this canvas so much, reasons bound up with a book I am writing, neither a novel nor yet a poem - I'm not quite sure myself - in which the protagonist is the Actor, the actor who resides in every man, and who puts on a performance of his interior comedy at any chance stopping place along the highway' (L. Aragon, in Marc Chagall. Recent Paintings 1966-1968, op. cit., n.p.).
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