The Lion and the Ass 1927 - 1930

This is Marc Chagall's black and white print, "The Lion and the Ass." Look at the mark-making. I see a world emerging from a tangle of lines – a lion, an ass, a tree bursting with foliage, and a sky alive with birds. I can only imagine what it was like for Chagall to create this piece – the scratching, the biting of the acid, the way he might have wiped the plate and then reworked the image. It is like he is coaxing the image into being. The scene is so full of life. And so dreamlike. Chagall was deeply connected to his Jewish heritage and Russian roots, which were rich sources of inspiration for his art. He’s talking to Rembrandt and Goya and so many others who worked with intaglio. We are all in a dialogue, an exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity.