Signed German-language book: Arabian Nights. Munich: R. Piper & Co. Verlag, 1956. Hardcover, 5 x 7.5, 47 pages. Signed and inscribed on the first free end page in blue ink, "Pour Pierre, Marc Chagall, 1964, St. Paul." In very good to fine condition, with some damage to the head and tail of the spine, not at all affecting the interior pages.
In 1948, Marc Chagall produced a series of 13 lithographs based on four stories from The Arabian Nights. The lithographs won the Graphic Prize at the Venice Biennial in 1948 and, to date, they are considered to be some of the very best examples of lithographic work produced prior to 1950, in addition to representing Chagall’s first foray into color lithography. Prior to this work, all of Chagall’s lithographs (35 total) were in black-and-white. The predominant theme in the illustrations is that of separation or loss of love, reunion, and the meaning of death. Chagall suffered the loss of his own wife prior to producing these prints. This German publication, purportedly the first to reproduce the Chagall lithographs, contains all 13 lithos and the associated black-and-white line drawings.
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