Marc Chagall, Carmen, Metropolitan Opera, New York City, 1966

Marc Chagall

Carmen, Metropolitan Opera, New York City, 1966

Original Color Lithograph on Arches watermarked Paper with deckled edges

Hand signed in black crayon lower right front; hand numbered in white crayon and numbered 98 from the edition of 150

Frame included

Signed and numbered from the most desirable limited edition of only 150. This rare, hand-signed lithograph was printed for the opening of Georges Bizet's Carmen, the first performance at the Metropolitan Opera House at New York's Lincoln Center. The image is a detail taken from Marc Chagall's preliminary rendering of his famed mural The Triumph of Music, which is still on display in the opera house. This is the first version of this lithograph to have text. This impression comes from the signed and numbered edition of 150. (Separately, there was also an edition of 200 without text and an unsigned, unnumbered poster edition of 3,000 on different paper), A second version was published the same year, without the text and with the addition of a bird in the lower left corner and a woman and child in the upper right corner. There was also a slightly larger signed edition of 200 -- but this edition of only 150 is considered the most desirable. This is the highly desirable hand signed and numbered edition of 150, on Arches watermarked paper with deckled edges, created for the benefit of the Metropolitan Opera. Hand-signed in black crayon lower right Chagall and numbered in white crayon. It was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for the Vera List Art Poster program for the American Federation of the Arts. Transcribed by Charles Sorlier from Chagall’s maquette for “The Triumph of Music,” with the annotation “D’APRES MARC CHAGALL – CH. SORLIER GRAV.” added to the stone lower left. Published by Editions of the Metropolitan Opera, New York; printed at Atelier Mourlot, Paris, bearing its credit line on the stone lower right.
Catalogue Raisonne Reference:
Catalog: Mourlot CS39; Chagall’s Posters Catalogue Raisonné p. 108.
Measurements:
Framed:
43.75 inches vertical by 36 inches by 2 inches
Print:
39.5 inches vertical by 30 inches (horizontal)