To My Betrothed

Currently not on view

To My Betrothed

1911

Marc Chagall (French (born Vitebsk, Russian Empire), 1887–1985)

To My Betrothed takes as its subject matter the archetypal theme of beauty and the beast. Within a vortex of tangled legs, arms, and other body parts a minotaur-like figure emerges, apparently locked in a wild embrace with a woman whose upside-down head enters the picture at the upper left. The woman directs a stream of “diabolical spittle” (Chagall’s words) into the mouth of the bull-headed man—a pictorial device that recalls the solidified words that flow from the mouth of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary in early Italian Renaissance paintings of the Annunciation.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

To My Betrothed

Date:

1911

Artist:

Marc Chagall (French (born Vitebsk, Russian Empire), 1887–1985)

Medium:

Gouache, watercolor, metallic paint, charcoal, and ink on paper, mounted on cardboard

Dimensions:

Sheet: 24 x 17 1/2 inches (61 x 44.5 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

Gift of Fiske and Marie Kimball, 1950

Accession Number:

1950-26-1

Geography:

Made in Paris, France, Europe

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Currently not on view