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Lot Essay
Chagall painted Femme à l'âne vert ou Tête de vache verte in the early 1950s, after his return from America and during his staying in St-Paul de Vence. In the 1950s, the artist's iconographic elements took on a clearly defined place in space, and the transitions between colours became smoother and more harmonious. In Femme à l'âne vert ou Tête de vache verte, for example, the motifs are both distinct and intertwined, seeming to grow out of each other. A monumental spray of colourful flowers occupies the centre of the composition. Chagall had first explored the theme of a vase of flowers in the early 1920s as a romantic extension to the symbolic vocabulary of the paintings depicting himself with his beloved wife Bella. The explosion of colour that so often characterises his bouquets allows Chagall to manipulate dramatic contrasts and subtle harmonies with aplomb, particularly when, as in the present work, he sets his flowers against a striking background of deep blue, so typical of the richness of his palette. Here the rich variety of the flowers is enhanced by the green donkey and the woman. The latter is likely a reminiscence of Bella Rosenfeld, the artist’s beloved wife who died in 1944.
It could also be a reference to his new wife Valentine Brodsky, Vava, whom he met in the spring of 1952. Next to her is a donkey, a recurring motif in Chagall's work and traditionally associated with a protective dimension, like a guardian heralding the day and warding off darkness.
The scene is bathed in a nocturnal blue that Chagall particularly appreciated and even identified with. He said of this colour: ‘Why blue? But I am blue, just as Rembrandt was brown’. But his blues are never just blues; they are deep, intense, modulated. The blue that pervades the present work serves not only as a background for the composition but also as an expression of feelings. Together, these elements create a gentle, joyful world. The present work, rich in symbolism and colour, is a perfect illustration of Chagall's unique ability to transpose intimate emotions and personal themes into universally accessible images.