A veritable vase-sculpture, Large Figures is an exceptional work in Chagall's output, as much for its elaborate form as its mysterious motif. Nearly half a meter high, this piece, turned and shaped in white clay, stands out for the stature of its figure. Two merged bodies with two heads displayed in the neck of the vase sit cross-egged, hands on hips, evoking the pose of an idol or Buddhist deity. The pose also recalls the position of a blue female figure in the large painting Homage to Gauguin (1956), suggesting a non-Western inspiration. In the way the material is worked and in its experimental spirit, the piece is particularly close to Gauguin's "ceramic sculptures", a hybrid term coined by the latter. The figure's cross-legged position recalls his wooden sculptures, such as Tii with Pearl (1892) and Tii with Shell (1892), while the split female torso could refer to an upper element of the stoneware Vase in the Shape of a Tree Stump (1887-1888).1
In addition to Gauguin’s stylistic influence, Large Figures continues the experiments carried out by ceramic artists in the 1950s, when they combined a sculptural arrangement of volumes with a tactile aspect: "The artist will [...] create a ceramic sculpture that unfolds in space either by relying on a biomorphic aesthetic or by playing a kind of building-block game with assembled volumes.”2 To further embody the anthropomorphic figure, Chagall gave it a translucent vitrified skin that only the ceramic enameling technique could provide. Transposing subtle pictorial values with whimsical colored glazes, he superimposed shades of white, lilac, yellow, blue and gray. Multiple briskly engraved lines increase the material’s vibrancy while shimmering nuances and highlights strengthen the figure's celestial presence. Chagall created this piece at a pivotal point in his career, shortly after he made the first stained-glass windows for Notre-Dame-de-Toute-Grâce in Assy, the studies for the Hadassah Hospital synagogue in Jerusalem and during work on the stained-glass windows for Metz Cathedral. The result is a transposition of his experiments with the transparency, light effects and graphics associated with stained glass, notably through the technique of acid-etched glass and grisaille painting.
Chagall's work often features figures with double profiles and bodies. Here, the torso evokes merging bodies with breasts extending into two necks and heads leaning towards each other in an affectionate gesture. The motif of a single body with two heads can be found in Homage to Apollinaire or Adam and Eve (1913), a signature painting from the artist's first Paris period where two figures, male and female, have one pair of legs. Whether it's a romantic union or a dreamed-of meeting of soulmates, these figures fascinate with their promise of renewed harmony.
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Marc CHAGALL, Large Figures (Grands personnages), 1962, white clay, decorated with oxides, engraved with a knife and dry point needle, underglaze, 18 11/16 x 15 3/8 x 9 1/16 in. (47.5 x 39 x 23 cm), Private collection © Fabrice GOUSSET/ADAGP, Paris, 2025
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Marc CHAGALL, Large Figures (Grands personnages), 1962, white clay, decorated with oxides, engraved with a knife and dry point needle, underglaze, 18 11/16 x 15 3/8 x 9 1/16 in. (47.5 x 39 x 23 cm), Private collection © Fabrice GOUSSET/ADAGP, Paris, 2025
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Marc CHAGALL, Large Figures (Grands personnages), 1962, white clay, decorated with oxides, engraved with a knife and dry point needle, underglaze, 18 11/16 x 15 3/8 x 9 1/16 in. (47.5 x 39 x 23 cm), Private collection © Fabrice GOUSSET, Fabrice GOUSSET/ADAGP, Paris, 2024./ADAGP, Paris, 2025
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Marc CHAGALL, Large Figures (Grands personnages), 1962, white clay, decorated with oxides, engraved with a knife and dry point needle, underglaze, 18 11/16 x 15 3/8 x 9 1/16 in. (47.5 x 39 x 23 cm), Private collection © Fabrice GOUSSET/ADAGP, Paris, 2025
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Marc CHAGALL, Large Figures (Grands personnages), 1962, white clay, decorated with oxides, engraved with a knife and dry point needle, underglaze, 18 11/16 x 15 3/8 x 9 1/16 in. (47.5 x 39 x 23 cm), Private collection © Fabrice GOUSSET/ADAGP, Paris, 2025
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Marc CHAGALL, Large Figures (Grands personnages), 1962, white clay, decorated with oxides, engraved with a knife and dry point needle, underglaze, 18 11/16 x 15 3/8 x 9 1/16 in. (47.5 x 39 x 23 cm), Private collection © Fabrice GOUSSET/ADAGP, Paris, 2025
