The Ass and the Dog 1927 - 1930

Marc Chagall’s etching, The Ass and the Dog, is made up of a flurry of marks. I imagine him bent over the plate, scratching into the metal with a kind of controlled frenzy. It’s so raw, immediate, and alive, as if the image were conjured straight from a dream. I can almost feel what it was like for Chagall to make this piece. The light reflecting off the metal, the smell of the ink. The way his hand moved, sometimes hesitant, sometimes bold, each mark a small decision in a larger dance. Maybe he wanted to explore the animal world, to explore its symbolism through the physicality of the etching plate. There is a relationship between this work and others where Chagall uses animals. There is a conversation here, a deep exploration of form and meaning. To me, etching is about a connection to the past, about methods and forms of making, which are still so contemporary.