Surrealist Figurative Prints

Ian Hugo, 'Encircled', engraving, 1946, edition 50. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '5/50' in pencil. With the blind stamp 'madeleine-claude jobrack EDIT...

Contemporary colorful figurative surrealistic print on paper by Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. This print shows woman with dress shaped like an umbrella from under which it rains. The...

Construction d’un temple – Plate n. 3  is a b/w original etching realized in 1973 (as reported on plate on the lower right margin) by Paul Delvaux. From the collection “ Construction d’un temple en ruine à la déesse Vanadé ”, this wonderful original print   came into being from the collaboration of four years between the French author and a member of the Nouveau-Roman , Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922-2008), and the Belgian artist Paul Delvaux (1897-1994). At first, Robbe-Grillet wrote a text, to which Delvaux then replied with a wonderful engraving; Robbe-Grillet then responded with a second text. This is how the building blocks of this beautiful book came together: it was constructed like a temple.  The book was printed in an edition of 187 copies, of which  only 40 contain the illustrations by Paul Delvaux .  Our copy is unnumbered and printed on  “Arches”  ivory colored paper with the  Bateau Lavoir watermark  (on the lower right corner), and  “Richard Bas ” watermark (on the lower left margin). This beautiful artwork, representing an enigmatic composition with seven women realized like ancient Greek marble...

This exquisite lithograph by Alexander Calder (1898–1976), titled Les Arcs (The Arches), from the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 173, originates from the 1968 edition published by Mae...

Salvador Dali - Nude and Lobster - Original Etching Dimensions: 38 x 28 cm Edition: 390 1967 Editor : Au Cercle du Livre Précieux On Rives Vellum From the Serie Casanova Unsigned as ...

A close portrait of a horse wearing a laurel crown with the rays of the sun emanating from behind its head. The horse theme was frequently used by Dali throughout his career. The hor...

Héliogravure on brown-toned paper, no signature. Héliogravure on brown-toned paper, no signature. Héliogravure  on bot sheets, recto and verso. Edition of 6500 unsigned copies. Pri...

Salvador DALI The Vitraux : The Angel, 1973 Original lithograph Handsigned in pencil Numbered 3/250 On Arches vellum, 65 x 48 cm (c. 25.6 x 18.9 inch) References : - Catalog ra...

Léonor FINI (1907-1996) Three sisters with a cat Original etching, 1973 Hand signed in pencil Numbered /275 copies On Arches vellum size 56 x 38 cm (c. 22 x 15 in) Very good condition

Flights of Fancy is an original signed limited edition (060/250 ) lithograph by Michel Pellus showing a man in a top hat floating in the sky in a hot a...

Salvador Dali - Attack on the Windmils - Original Lithograph Joseph FORET, Paris, 1957 PRINTER : Atelier Mourlot. SIGNATURE : printed in the image LIMITED : 197 copies. SIZE : 64.5...

Size of sheet is ca. 21 x 29 cm (A4) Contemporary figurative giclee print by Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. Print is signed, numbered and has a stamp of an artist's atelier. It comes...

Size of sheet is ca. 21 x 29 cm (A4) Contemporary figurative giclee print by Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. Print is signed, numbered and has a stamp of an artist's atelier. It comes...

André Masson, French (1896 -1987) - Désespoir pour les Poèmes d'Emily Brontë, Year: circa 1945, Medium: Lithograph on thin wove paper, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 12/3...

This artwork titled "Cantique du Singulier" 1977, is an original colors lithograph on Japan paper by noted French artist Aristide Caillaud, 1902-1990. It is hand signed and numbered ...

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Sol Y Dali MEDIUM: Lithograph SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 153/200 MEASUREMENTS: 16.5" x 21.9" YEAR: 1967 FRAMED: Yes CONDITION: Excelle...

Letterpress printing on spécialement fabriqué Curtis Rag vélin paper. Paper Size: 12.5 x 9.1875 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, A Best...

Idols is a lithograph on Arches paper realized by Max Ernst in 1972. Belongs to the suite "Judith". Limited edition of 500. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Godd conditions. T...

This artwork "Untitled" is a color lithograph by acclaimed Iranian artist Mahmoud Farshchian, born 1930. It is hand signed and numbered 217/250 in p...

Hans BELLMER (1902-1975) Fantastic Creature Original etching, 1973 Handsigned in pencil by the artist On Auvergne paper, 57 x 38 cm (22,4 x 14,9 inches) From the Portfolio "Les Mys...

Héliogravure on vélin de Rives pur chiffon paper, manufactured by Les papeteries de Rives, Voiron, France. Paper Size: 16.93 x 14.17 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnu...

Original Etching from the series ‘The Song of the Songs of King Solomon’ in colours with stencil on Arches wove paper. signed and numbered by the artist Paper size: 57.1 x 38 cm Edi...

Héliogravure on brown-toned paper, no signature. Héliogravure  on bot sheets, recto and verso. Edition of 6500 unsigned copies. Printed by Mourlot and published by Tériade on the A...

This original lithograph in colours is hand signed in pencil by the artist ‘Marc Chagall’ at the lower right margin. It is also numbered 5 from the edition of 75, at the lower left ...

Color lithograph after the 1954 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 300. The lithograph features the dry stamps of the Magritte Foundation & ADAGP and is countersigned in pencil by Mr. Charly Herscovici, President of the Magritte Foundation, Chairman of the Magritte Museum and unique representative of the Magritte Succession. A proof of edition is printed on the back of the lithograph, guaranteeing its authenticity. Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist whose witty and thought-provoking images challenged observers? preconditioned perceptions of reality. Magritte's work frequently displays a juxtaposition of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things.Magritte grew up in a simple and somewhat tragic household. His father was a modest tailor. His mother, who was mentally unsound, committed suicide in the year 1912. Magritte started drawing at a young age, and his first paintings, produced c. 1915, were Impressionistic in style.Magritte first worked as a draughtsman in a wallpaper factory and, in the year 1922, fell in love with and married Georgette Berger. In 1926, Magritte signed...

Size of sheet is ca. 30 x 42 cm (A4) Contemporary figurative giclee print by Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. Print is signed, numbered and has a stamp of an artist's atelier. It comes...

Marc Chagall "Darkness Over Egypt (Les Tenebres sur L'Egypte)" from the series The Bible, which consists of 105 original etchings. Original hand colored etching 1956 Hand initialed...

Lithograph on vélin du Marais paper. Paper Size: 11 x 8.25 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the volume, Poèmes 1923-1958. Dix dessins d...

Crazy, Crazy, Crazy Minerva by Salvador Dali is from the Memories Of Surrealism suite which consists of 12 hand-signed lithographs with etching p...

S. Dalì, "Aphrodite", Heliogravure and dry-point. Paris, Argillet. 1963-65. Image dimensions 49,2 x 39,7 cm. Beautiful Proof on vélin filigrané “Arches”, full margins, not signed....

Artist - Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) Title - PRINCE OF CUPS, Tarot Card Series Publisher - DALART N.V. Year published - 1979 Medium - Lithograph on Arches Cover 270 gsm. 100% acid free, signed in pencil, inscribed 2/5 PP (Printers Proof) by Salvador Dali on lower print margin, publishers mark "DALART N.V. Copyright 1979" blindstamp embossed on lower left print margin. Fine impression, vivid colors, unframed, in very good condition. Print documentation provided.. Listed in the Albert Field's OFFICIAL CATALOGUE OF THE GRAPHIC WORKS OF SALVADOR DALI, Reference #79-15. PRINCE OF CUPS from the Tarot Series 1979, is a surrealist style limited edition lithograph by Salvador Dalí (1904 – 1989) Printed on archival Arches paper, 100% acid free. PRINCE OF CUPS depicts a freely drawn, black line portrait of a young Prince wearing his golden yellow crown, sporting a white ruffle collared shirt, looking slightly sideways posed behind a golden chalice...

This exquisite lithograph by Max Ernst (1891–1976), titled Electra, from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommaire du no. 5...

TIE Fighter Beatles by B A T I K Pop art work featuring the Fab Four Paul McCartney , George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon running away from Star Wars TIE fighters chasing...

This exquisite etching after Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Serie V (Series V), from the folio Derriere le miroir, 10 Ans d'Edition 1946–1956, No. 92–93, originates from the 1956 edition published by Maeght Editeur, Paris, and printed by Atelier Crommelynck, Paris, 1956. Serie V reflects Miro’s fascination with rhythmic abstraction and the poetic balance between spontaneity and structure, uniting delicate etched line with the fluid energy and symbolism that defined his mature graphic work. Executed as an etching from cuivre raye apres tirage on velin paper, this work measures 15 x 11 inches, overall; 5.91 x 4.92 inches, image size. Unsigned and unnumbered as issued. The edition exemplifies the superb craftsmanship of Atelier Crommelynck, Paris. Artwork Details: Artist: After Joan Miro (1893–1983) Title: Serie V (Series V), from the folio Derriere le miroir, 10 Ans d'Edition 1946–1956, No. 92–93 Medium: Etching from cuivre raye apres tirage on velin paper Dimensions: 15 x 11 inches (38.1 x 27.94 cm), overall; 5.91 x 4.92 inches (15.01 x 12.50 cm), image size Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered as issued Date: 1956 Publisher: Maeght Editeur, Paris Printer: Atelier Crommelynck, Paris Catalogue raisonne reference: Cramer, Patrick, and Isabelle Monod-Fontaine. Joan Miro: Catalogue Raisonne des Livres Illustres. Patrick Cramer Editeur, Geneva, 1989, no. 36. Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the folio Derriere le miroir, 10 Ans d'Edition 1946–1956, No. 92–93, published by Maeght Editeur, Paris; printed by Atelier Crommelynck, Paris, 1956 Notes: Excerpted from the folio (translated from French), This catalogue, forming a special issue of Derriere le miroir, was completed in October 1956 on the presses of Draeger Freres on behalf of Aime Maeght, Editeur. The original lithographs of Miro, Chagall and Bazaine were shot by Mourlot Freres. The eaux-fortes rayees of Miro and Giacometti were shot by Crommelynck. Raoul Ubac composed and pulled the engraved wood from the cover. The photographs of Braque's reproduced works are by Mr. Routhier. Those of the other artists of Y. Hervochon. About the Publication: Derriere le miroir (Behind the Mirror) was one of the most important art publications of the 20th century, created and published by Maeght Editeur in Paris from 1946 to 1982. Founded by the visionary art dealer and publisher Aime Maeght, the series served as both an exhibition catalogue and a work of art in its own right, uniting original lithographs by leading modern and contemporary artists with critical essays, poetry, and design of the highest quality. Printed by master lithographers such as Mourlot Freres and Arte, Derriere le miroir became synonymous with the artistic vanguard of postwar Europe. Each issue was devoted to a single artist or theme and published to accompany exhibitions at the Galerie Maeght in Paris, featuring works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Alexander Calder, Fernand Leger, and Alberto Giacometti, among others. The publication reflected Maeght’s belief that art should be both accessible and elevated—an ideal realized through its luxurious production values, meticulous printing, and collaboration with the greatest creative minds of its time. About the Artist: Joan Miro (1893–1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor, printmaker, and ceramicist whose visionary imagination and lyrical abstraction made him one of the most influential and beloved artists of the 20th century. Born in Barcelona, Miro drew inspiration from Catalan folk art, Romanesque frescoes, and the luminous landscapes of Mont-roig del Camp, developing a deep connection to nature that infused his work with vitality and symbolism. After formal training at the Escola d'Art in Barcelona, he absorbed the lessons of Post-Impressionism and Cubism before moving to Paris in the early 1920s, where he became a leading figure in the Surrealist movement. There, Miro forged a personal visual language of biomorphic shapes, floating symbols, and radiant color harmonies that reflected both spontaneity and spiritual depth. In creative dialogue with peers such as Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray, he helped revolutionize modern art by dissolving the boundaries between abstraction and dream imagery. Miro's inventive approach extended far beyond painting, embracing sculpture, ceramics, and monumental public commissions that redefined how art could interact with space and emotion. His expressive freedom and gestural abstraction profoundly influenced later artists including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Antoni Tapies, and Joan Mitchell, inspiring generations who sought to merge instinct, color, and imagination. Today, Miro's work remains a cornerstone of modernism, prized by collectors and celebrated in major museums worldwide. His highest auction record was achieved by Peinture (Etoile Bleue) (1927), which sold for £23,561,250 (approximately $37 million) at Sotheby's, London, on June 19, 2012. Joan Miro Serie...

Héliogravure on brown-toned paper, so signature. On bot sheets, recto and verso. Edition of 6500 unsigned copies. Printed by Mourlot and published by Tériade, Paris. Ref. Mourlot,...

Giclee limited edition print by worldwidely established Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. Figurative surrealistic print presentic an intricate scene on a lake with swans, pegasuses, ball...

Leonor Fini, Rogomelec (rare original print on Rives paper) Texte : Rare lithograph on Rives paper, handsigned and numered by surrealist artist Leonor Fini, now rediscovered and inscreasingly esteemed with the movement of rediscovering art by women. Leonor Fini was actually the life of the party during the Surrealist movement like Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Jacqueline Lamba and Claude Lalanne. Many consider her to be the most fiercely independent female artist of the 20th centuryThis rare lithograph was made after the painting untitled Rogomelec, which was sold by Christie's on october 9th 2024 at GBP 907,200. Created in 1978, Rogomelec is an arresting example of Leonor Fini’s fantastical visions. Within a barren land stands a king dressed in an elaborate coat of peacock feathers. Light glints off his dazzling crown. He is magisterial, imperious, royalty incarnated. The painting shares its title with that of Fini’s third novella, first published in 1979; Rogomelec means ‘he who stones the king’. Written in the first person, the story tells of a traveller in a faraway land, home to a decaying monastery-turned-sanatorium, where monks proffer hallucinatory herbal cures, and culminates in an unsettling discovery during a ritual celebration of the king, the subject of the present work. Born in Buenos Aires, Fini moved to Trieste as a young child. There, she developed an early interest in Renaissance and Mannerist art – the latter’s influence is evident in the elongated figure of Rogomelec – as well as Gustav Klimt, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the German and French Romantics, artists she discovered while riffling through her uncle’s extensive library. Largely self-taught, she moved to Paris in 1931 where she befriended René Magritte, Paul Éluard, Max Ernst, and Victor Brauner. Through them, Fini grew close with the Surrealists and participated in their exhibitions, including Peggy Guggenheim’s landmark show 31 Women at her eponymous gallery on West 57 Street in New York. Like her contemporaries, Fini’s paintings too seem wrenched from a dream and across her works she sought to reconcile the world that she experienced with that of her subconscious mind. In Rogomelec, the king’s clothing is meticulous, and the drama of the ensemble was likely influenced by Fini’s work outside the studio. She created sets and costumes for the ballet, stage, and film; collaborated on performances for the Paris Opéra and La Scala in Milan; and conceived of the bottle and packaging for Elsa Schiaparelli’s perfume...

Size of sheet is ca. 21 x 29 cm (A4) Contemporary figurative giclee print by Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. Print is signed, numbered and has a stamp of an artist's atelier. It comes...

Pablo Picasso, Spanish (1881 -1973) - Death of Orpheus from Ovids The Metamorphoses, Year: 1930, Medium: Etching on thin laid paper, Edition: , Image Size: 9 x 6.5 inches, Size: ...

Numbered: 193/300 Color lithograph after the 1967 oil on canvas by René Magritte, printed signature of Magritte and numbered from the edition of 300. The lithograph features the dry...

Lithograph in colors on japon paper. Hand signed and numbered by Salvador Dali. Edition I LXIII/C. Sheet size 29.5 x 21.5 inches. Image size 23 x 15 inches. Frame size approx 34 x 24 inches. Catalogue Raisonné: Field 79-12, pp. 185. Artwork is in excellent condition. All reasonable offers will be considered. About the Artist: Salvador Dalí (Spanish, 1904–1989) was a renowned Surrealist artist known for his enigmatic paintings of dreamscapes and religious themes. The Persistence of Memory (1931), arguably his best known work, visually manifests the strangeness of time, showing clocks melting in an idyllic landscape. “One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams,” he once reflected. Born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech on May 11, 1904 in Figueres, Spain, he displayed a great aptitude for the visual arts as a teenager. Three years after his first exhibition at the age of 14, he enrolled at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid. At school, he emulated many contemporary styles but also the works of Johannes Vermeer and Diego Velázquez. During his visits to Paris in the late 1920s, he was introduced to the Surrealist movement by René Magritte and Joan Miró. Though the concept of Surrealism was new to him, Dalí was already well versed in the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud. Dabbling in various projects throughout his long career, in 1942 he published the book The Secret...

Lithograph on vélin papier pur chiffon paper. Paper Size: 10 x 7.375 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Les chants de Maldoror, illustrat...

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: After 50 Years of Surrealism Freud with Snail Head MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: F 59/195 MEASUREMENTS: 19.75" x 26" YEAR: 1...

Lithograph on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition, with bifold, as issued. Notes: From volume, Derrière le miroir, N° 125-126, 1961. Publishe...

Untitled  is a lithograph realized by the Cuban Surrealist artist Wifredo Lam (1902-1982). This is a color lithograph on wove paper, properly edited...

La Belle Captive is an lithograph realized after René Magritte (after) in 1969. Signed on plate on the lower left corner: Magritte. Numbered in penci...

Artist: Salvador Dali Title: American Trotting Horses No. 2 Date: 1971 Portfolio: Currier & Ives as Interpreted by Salvador Dali Medium: Litho...

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Numéro 46 (Number 46), from the album XXe Siecle, Nouvelle serie, XXXVIIIe Annee, No. 46, originates from the 1976 edition ...

ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Triumph of The Sea MEDIUM: Lithograph SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Sidney Lucas, New York EDITION NUMBER: 12...

Rare print handsigned by surrealist artist Leonor Fini, inscreasingly esteemed with the movement of rediscovering art by women. This silkscreen is in perfect condition and from a ver...

André Masson, French (1896 -1987) - Deux Femmes en une, Year: 1956, Medium: Etching, Image Size: 9.75 x 8 inches, Size: 11 x 9.75 in. (27.94 x 24.77 cm), Description: From the c...

Léonor FINI (1907-1996) Surrealist lady Original etching, 1973 Hand signed in pencil Numbered /275 copies On Arches vellum size 56 x 38 cm (c. 22 x 15 in) Very good condition

Vibrant giclee limited edition print by worldwidely established Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. Figurative surrealistic print with an animal which is a black horse with wings made out ...

Corneille Woman with Rose and Bird, 1985 Original lithograph Handsigned Justified EA On vellum 56 x 76 cm (c. 22 x 30 inch) Excellent condition

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 151–152, originates from the 1965 edition published by Maeght...

This lithograph is hand signed and numbered. Edition of 75 prints. André Masson (1896-1987) was a French painter, whose style was influenced by Cubism and Surrealism . After traveli...

Salvador Dali - The Beach At Sete - Original Etching Dimensions: 38 x 28 cm Edition: 235 Editor : Argillet 1967 embossed signature On Arches Vellum From the series : Poemes Secrets P...

Avant-garde female nude lithograph on paper by Danish artist Wilhelm Freddie. Number 80 from an edition of 170. Signed, dated and titled in pencil bottom left, numbered in pencil bot...

Velasquez Les Menines is one of six graphics from the series Changes in Great Masterpieces published by Sidney Lucas, 1974. Master Dali has given us a...

Marc Chagall - Original Lithograph The Red Rider From the unsigned, unnumbered lithograph printed in the literary review XXe Siecle 1957 See Mourlot 191 Dimensions: 32 x 24 cm Publisher: G. di San Lazzaro. Marc Chagall (born in 1887) Marc Chagall was born in Belarus in 1887 and developed an early interest in art. After studying painting, in 1907 he left Russia for Paris, where he lived in an artist colony on the city’s outskirts. Fusing his own personal, dreamlike imagery with hints of the fauvism and cubism popular in France at the time, Chagall created his most lasting work—including I and the Village (1911)—some of which would be featured in the Salon des Indépendants exhibitions. After returning to Vitebsk for a visit in 1914, the outbreak of WWI trapped Chagall in Russia. He returned to France in 1923 but was forced to flee the country and Nazi persecution during WWII. Finding asylum in the U.S., Chagall became involved in set and costume design before returning to France in 1948. In his later years, he experimented with new art forms and was commissioned to produce numerous large-scale works. Chagall died in St.-Paul-de-Vence in 1985. The Village Marc Chagall was born in a small Hassidic community on the outskirts of Vitebsk, Belarus, on July 7, 1887. His father was a fishmonger, and his mother ran a small sundries shop in the village. As a child, Chagall attended the Jewish elementary school, where he studied Hebrew and the Bible, before later attending the Russian public school. He began to learn the fundamentals of drawing during this time, but perhaps more importantly, he absorbed the world around him, storing away the imagery and themes that would feature largely in most of his later work. At age 19 Chagall enrolled at a private, all-Jewish art school and began his formal education in painting, studying briefly with portrait artist Yehuda Pen. However, he left the school after several months, moving to St. Petersburg in 1907 to study at the Imperial Society for the Protection of Fine Arts. The following year, he enrolled at the Svanseva School, studying with set designer Léon Bakst, whose work had been featured in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. This early experience would prove important to Chagall’s later career as well. Despite this formal instruction, and the widespread popularity of realism in Russia at the time, Chagall was already establishing his own personal style, which featured a more dreamlike unreality and the people, places and imagery that were close to his heart. Some examples from this period are his Window Vitebsk (1908) and My Fianceé with Black Gloves (1909), which pictured Bella Rosenfeld, to whom he had recently become engaged. The Beehive Despite his romance with Bella, in 1911 an allowance from Russian parliament member and art patron Maxim Binaver enabled Chagall to move to Paris, France. After settling briefly in the Montparnasse neighborhood, Chagall moved further afield to an artist colony known as La Ruche (“The Beehive”), where he began to work side by side with abstract painters such as Amedeo Modigliani and Fernand Léger as well as the avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire. At their urging, and under the influence of the wildly popular fauvism and cubism, Chagall lightened his palette and pushed his style ever further from reality. I and the Village (1911) and Homage to Apollinaire (1912) are among his early Parisian works, widely considered to be his most successful and representative period. Though his work stood stylistically apart from his cubist contemporaries, from 1912 to 1914 Chagall exhibited several paintings at the annual Salon des Indépendants exhibition, where works by the likes of Juan Gris, Marcel Duchamp and Robert Delaunay were causing a stir in the Paris art world. Chagall’s popularity began to spread beyond La Ruche, and in May 1914 he traveled to Berlin to help organize his first solo exhibition, at Der Sturm Gallery. Chagall remained in the city until the highly acclaimed show opened that June. He then returned to Vitebsk, unaware of the fateful events to come. War, Peace and Revolution In August 1914 the outbreak of World War I precluded Chagall’s plans to return to Paris. The conflict did little to stem the flow of his creative output, however, instead merely giving him direct access to the childhood scenes so essential to his work, as seen in paintings such as Jew in Green (1914) and Over Vitebsk (1914). His paintings from this period also occasionally featured images of the war’s impact on the region, as with Wounded Soldier (1914) and Marching (1915). But despite the hardships of life during wartime, this would also prove to be a joyful period for Chagall. In July 1915 he married Bella, and she gave birth to a daughter, Ida, the following year. Their appearance in works such as Birthday (1915), Bella and Ida by the Window (1917) and several of his “Lovers” paintings give a glimpse of the island of domestic bliss that was Chagall’s amidst the chaos. To avoid military service and stay with his new family, Chagall took a position as a clerk in the Ministry of War Economy in St. Petersburg. While there he began work on his autobiography and also immersed himself in the local art scene, befriending novelist Boris Pasternak, among others. He also exhibited his work in the city and soon gained considerable recognition. That notoriety would prove important in the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution when he was appointed as the Commissar of Fine Arts in Vitebsk. In his new post, Chagall undertook various projects in the region, including the 1919 founding of the Academy of the Arts. Despite these endeavors, differences among his colleagues eventually disillusioned Chagall. In 1920 he relinquished his position and moved his family to Moscow, the post-revolution capital of Russia. In Moscow, Chagall was soon commissioned to create sets and costumes for various productions at the Moscow State Yiddish Theater, where he would paint a series of murals titled Introduction to the Jewish Theater as well. In 1921, Chagall also found work as a teacher at a school for war orphans. By 1922, however, Chagall found that his art had fallen out of favor, and seeking new horizons he left Russia for good. Flight After a brief stay in Berlin, where he unsuccessfully sought to recover the work exhibited at Der Sturm before the war, Chagall moved his family to Paris in September 1923. Shortly after their arrival, he was commissioned by art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard to produce a series of etchings for a new edition of Nikolai Gogol's 1842 novel Dead Souls. Two years later Chagall began work on an illustrated edition of Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables, and in 1930 he created etchings for an illustrated edition of the Old Testament, for which he traveled to Palestine to conduct research. Chagall’s work during this period brought him new success as an artist and enabled him to travel throughout Europe in the 1930s. He also published his autobiography, My Life (1931), and in 1933 received a retrospective at the Kunsthalle in Basel, Switzerland. But at the same time that Chagall’s popularity was spreading, so, too, was the threat of Fascism and Nazism. Singled out during the cultural "cleansing" undertaken by the Nazis in Germany, Chagall’s work was ordered removed from museums throughout the country. Several pieces were subsequently burned, and others were featured in a 1937 exhibition of “degenerate art” held in Munich. Chagall’s angst regarding these troubling events and the persecution of Jews in general can be seen in his 1938 painting White Crucifixion. With the eruption of World War II, Chagall and his family moved to the Loire region before moving farther south to Marseilles following the invasion of France. They found a more certain refuge when, in 1941, Chagall’s name was added by the director of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City to a list of artists and intellectuals deemed most at risk from the Nazis’ anti-Jewish campaign. Chagall and his family would be among the more than 2,000 who received visas and escaped this way. Haunted Harbors Arriving in New York City in June 1941, Chagall discovered that he was already a well-known artist there and, despite a language barrier, soon became a part of the exiled European artist community. The following year he was commissioned by choreographer Léonide Massine to design sets and costumes for the ballet Aleko, based on Alexander Pushkin’s “The Gypsies” and set to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. But even as he settled into the safety of his temporary home, Chagall’s thoughts were frequently consumed by the fate befalling the Jews of Europe and the destruction of Russia, as paintings such as The Yellow Crucifixion...