Les sept péchés capitaux
Artist: Marc Chagall (Russian (active France), 1887-1985)
Publisher: Simon Kra, Paris, [1926]
Author: Various artists
Date: [1926]
Dimensions:
Slipcase: H: 10 3/4 in. (273 mm); W: 8 9/16 in. (217 mm); Depth: 1 15/16 in. (50 mm).
Chemise: H: 10 1/2 in. (267 mm); W: 8 3/8 in. (213 mm); Depth: 1 3/4 in. (44 mm).
Book: H: 10 3/16 in. (258 mm); W: 7 5/8 in. (194 mm); Depth: 1 7/16 in. (37 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 10 in. (254 mm); W: 7 5/8 in. (193 mm).
Sheet (untrimmed): H: 9 13/16 in. (250 mm); W: 7 3/8 in. (187 mm).
Medium: Original prints: 15 etchings and drypoints (incl. 5 with aquatint), plus a suite of 16 etchings in sanguine (incl. 1 extra not used in the book).
Text: letterpress in black and green.
Paper: Van Gelder cream laid paper.
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss
Object number: 1984.341
Label Text:
Marc Chagall, in Paris, was commissioned to provide illustrations for this new, irreverent version of the Seven Deadly Sins with texts by contemporary French authors. Drawing on vivid memories and fantasies of his youth in the provincial Belarusian town of Vitebsk, he represents human foibles and weaknesses with wit and affection. Through his lively line, humorous exaggeration, and defiance of the laws of gravity, space, and time, he acknowledges and embraces our shortcomings as an integral, and even joyous, part of life.
Marc Chagall, Les sept péchés capitaux (The Seven Deadly Sins). Texts by various authors (1926)
For his etchings illustrating the seven deadly sins, Marc Chagall took a satirical but affectionate look at village life in his native Vitebsk, Belarus. His self-deprecating sense of humor is perfectly highlighted by the frontispiece—a witty self-portrait of the artist at his easel, represented as Envy (traditional enemy of Painting), with the heads of the six other deadly sins piled upon his own.
The book was conceived and coordinated by publisher Simon Kra, who was instrumental in disseminating early Surrealist writings (he published André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto in 1924). Each of the Seven Deadly Sins is treated by a different author, selected from among the most important French writers of the day: Pride by Jean Giraudoux, playwright of Intermezzo and The Madwoman of Chaillot; Greed by Paul Morand, student of Giraudoux; Lust by novelist Pierre Mac Orlan; Envy by poet André Salmon; Gluttony by Surrealist writer Max Jacob; Anger by dramatist Jacques de Lacretelle; and Sloth by adventure novelist Joseph Kessel.
Marc Chagall, in Paris, was commissioned to provide illustrations for this new, irreverent version of the Seven Deadly Sins with texts by contemporary French authors. Drawing on vivid memories and fantasies of his youth in the provincial Belarusian town of Vitebsk, he represents human foibles and weaknesses with wit and affection. Through his lively line, humorous exaggeration, and defiance of the laws of gravity, space, and time, he acknowledges and embraces our shortcomings as an integral, and even joyous, part of life.
Marc Chagall, Les sept péchés capitaux (The Seven Deadly Sins). Texts by various authors (1926)
For his etchings illustrating the seven deadly sins, Marc Chagall took a satirical but affectionate look at village life in his native Vitebsk, Belarus. His self-deprecating sense of humor is perfectly highlighted by the frontispiece—a witty self-portrait of the artist at his easel, represented as Envy (traditional enemy of Painting), with the heads of the six other deadly sins piled upon his own.
The book was conceived and coordinated by publisher Simon Kra, who was instrumental in disseminating early Surrealist writings (he published André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto in 1924). Each of the Seven Deadly Sins is treated by a different author, selected from among the most important French writers of the day: Pride by Jean Giraudoux, playwright of Intermezzo and The Madwoman of Chaillot; Greed by Paul Morand, student of Giraudoux; Lust by novelist Pierre Mac Orlan; Envy by poet André Salmon; Gluttony by Surrealist writer Max Jacob; Anger by dramatist Jacques de Lacretelle; and Sloth by adventure novelist Joseph Kessel.
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