The full title of this artwork was Bible, Verve 33-34 and it is one of a series of designs produced by the artist across the year of 1956. Simplicity was the key here, in order to allow the artist to output a good number of different drawings as part of the overall series. We find a relatively limited palette here, with tones of blue, red and yellow with some contrasting black lines which helps to provide an overall form within this relatively minimalist piece. There were then additional items added in the bottom of the print which relate to the overall series of which this was an important part.
Marc Chagall loved to try out different mediums and styles across his career, managing to benefit from living such a long life which then gave him enough time to experiment in all manner of different ways. He sought advice and assistance from specialists in different fields, including print making as he understood that certain disciplines would require huge investments of time in order to be understood completely, which would take him away from other projects. He therefore allowed himself to trust others and as a result of this was able to expand to oeuvre considerably.
Within MoMA's collection you will find around 200 different artworks from Chagall's career, including a good number of drawings and lithographs such as the one included here. They also own a wide ranging selection of Jackson Pollock drawings and paintings, plus many more from other notable 20th century artists. Their focus has predominantly been on American and European artists but in recent years they have been attempting to broaden out their display to include all manner of other cultures and civilisations. They also own a number of panels from the water lilies series created by Claude Monet between 1914-1926. All in all, there is an extraordinary number of items to be found here, most of which cannot be displayed because of the limited nature of display areas within any art gallery.
