Marc Chagall (1887-1985), artist — Jerzy Ficowski (1924-2006) - photo 1
Marc Chagall (1887-1985), artist — Jerzy Ficowski (1924-2006) - photo 2
Marc Chagall (1887-1985), artist — Jerzy Ficowski (1924-2006) - photo 3

Marc Chagall (1887-1985), artist — Jerzy Ficowski (1924-2006)

Lot 173
13.12.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 800
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1105656
Lot 173 | Marc Chagall (1887-1985), artist — Jerzy Ficowski (1924-2006)
Estimate value
£ 800 – 1 200
Marc Chagall (1887-1985), artist — Jerzy Ficowski (1924-2006)

Lettre à Marc Chagall. Paris: Adrien Maeght, 1969.

Mint copy in the original publishers packaging. This pristine livre d'artiste encapsulates the lifelong friendship between Jerzy Ficowski and Marc Chagall. Ficowski was a prominent Polish writer, poet and literary critic, known for his extensive works on Jewish culture and history. His work explored such themes as identity, memory and trauma, tackling these topics through the lens of Jewish folklore and mythology. His friendship with Marc Chagall began in 1963 when the artist visited Ficowski’s native Poland, the two subsequently began corresponding by letter, a written relationship that would last until Chagall’s death in 1985. Ficowski, who admired Marc Chagall's dreamlike paintings of pre-war Jewish life in Vitebsk, sent him the poem entitled Lettre à Marc Chagall, exploring the inner torment of two Jewish children growing up in a post-World War II society. Touched by Ficowski's poem, Chagall created the series of five dramatic, black and white etchings that we see published alongside the poem in the present lot. Cramer books 76.



Quarto (280 x 190mm). Number 156 of 190 copies, printed on Rives BFK wove paper, signed by the author and artist, five etchings. Loose as issued, in the original paper wrappers and contained within grey cloth chemise and matching slipcase, both lettered in gold; sold with the original cardboard box and outer wrapper. Provenance: outer paper wrapper numbered 156 by the publisher.



299 x 209 x 33 mm. (overall)





Literature

Cramer books 76
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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