Auction introduction: What better theme than music in Chagall’s beloved and colourful oeuvre? The following fifty works by Chagall – all formerly in the artist’s estate – comprise of paintings, gouaches, drawings and lithographs that each resonate a ballade, a hymn, an arabesque, a symphony, a sonata and sometimes even bursts into a wonderful concerto played by a very unique orchestra. As an ensemble of a wide range of works reflecting almost sixty years of artistic production that spans from circa 1927 to 1984, this selection bears witness to Chagall’s inexhaustible imagination and creation, or rather of re-invention. The Vitebsk-born multi-faceted artist always seeks innovative techniques and mediums, and variations of compositions and subjects. Browsing through this sale of fifty lots, a strikingly joyful rhythm of colours, lines, shapes and patterns breathes life to each and every one of those artworks. The collection deploys Chagall’s oeuvre as a musical score or soundtrack, punctuated by crescendos and decrescendos, by both folkloric Russian and classical music, operas, and ballets, by a lento, adagio, moderato or allegretto, and even by voices (especially Bella’s), to finally result in a beautiful and elaborate musical piece that we all enjoy listening to still today.