Original lithograph on Arches wove paper from an illustrated folio, which includes 7 original lithographs (3 in color, 4 in gray) and 2 original woodcuts (in black ink). All original graphic works are unsigned and unnumbered, except the color lithograph frontispiece. The frontispiece is hand signed and numbered by the artist in pencil, "Marc Chagall" lower right, and "64/250" lower left. The folio is #64 from an edition of 250, aside from 20 H.C. folios numbered in Roman Numerals. The folio also contains text written by Robert Marteau and several reproductions of Chagall's works executed by Charles Sorlier under the artist's direction. The text was printed by Imprimerie Nationale, Paris. The original lithographs were printed by Fernand Mourlot. The orginal woodcuts were printed at Atelier Lacourière et Frélaut, Paris. The entire folio was published by Mourlot, Paris in 1976.

Image size: 15" x 12"; Sheet size: 17 1/2" x 12 3/4"

Catalogue reference: Cramer no.101, p.298.; Mourlot 899-902, p.132-135.

Marc Chagall, Fernand Mourlot, and Robert Marteau collaborated in the making of Les Ateliers de Chagall (Chagall’s Studios), an illustrated book featuring seven original lithographs and two woodcuts by Chagall. The remaining images included in the book are color lithographs printed by Charles Sorlier after gouaches by Chagall with the artist’s supervision. The story, written by Robert Marteau, is about Chagall who serves as the narrator of the book. This story, completed in 1976, has many biblical references and a folkloric tone. It was not until Chagall’s first meeting with Fernand Mourlot in 1948 at the printer’s workshop in Paris, that the artist realized he had found the perfect graphic medium for his art: lithography. Christopher Conrad writes, “Lithography soon became [Chagall’s] favored printing technique. This is certainly due primarily to the fact that he could integrate the one element he had previously always missed in his graphic works: color. Color is employed in Chagall's work with greatly varying intensity, from watercolor-like washes and fragile crayon lines to opaque layers whose effect closely resembles that of his luminescent gouaches."