The catalogue raisonné of Marc Chagall's mosaics lists 28 works made between 1955 and 1986 for public and private spaces in France, Israel, Italy, Switzerland and the United States.
The Archives & Catalogue raisonné team carried out the research for the catalogue raisonné in collaboration with RMN-Grand Palais, Paris and the Marc Chagall National Museum, Nice, in the context of the exhibition De verre et de pierre, Marc Chagall en mosaïques (“Glass and Stone: Marc Chagall in Mosaics”). The exhibition will be on at the Marc Chagall National Museum, Nice, from May 24 to September 22, 2025 and the Museo d’Arte della città di Ravenna from October 18, 2025 to January 18, 2026. The curators are Anne Dopffer and Grégory Couderc in Nice and Giorgia Salerno and Daniele Torcellini in Ravenna. The members of the exhibition, exhibition catalogue and catalogue raisonné scientific committee are:
- Eva Belgherbi, head of documentation, Archives & Catalogue raisonné Marc Chagall
- Grégory Couderc, scientific director, Marc Chagall National Museum
- Anne Dopffer, general heritage curator, director of national museums of the 20th century in Alpes-Maritimes
- Ambre Gauthier, director, Archives & Catalogue raisonné Marc ChagallSofiya Glukhova, head of research, Archives & Catalogue raisonné Marc Chagall
- Sofiya Glukhova, head of research, Archives & Catalogue raisonné Marc Chagall
- Isabelle Le Bastard, documentary studies officer, Marc Chagall National Museum
- Giorgia Salerno, curator, Museo d’Arte della città di Ravenna
- Agnès Stankevitch, researcher, Archives & Catalogue raisonné Marc Chagall
- Daniele Torcellini, curator of the Biennial of Contemporary Mosaic, Ravenna
- Quitterie Touzet du Vigier, Head of research and editorial content, Archives & Catalogue raisonné Marc Chagall
Ambre Gauthier adapted the catalogue raisonné texts from those published in the catalogue for the exhibition De verre et de pierre, Marc Chagall en mosaïques (“Stone and Glass: Marc Chagall in Mosaics”), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2025. The authors are Grégory Couderc, Anne Dopffer, Ambre Gauthier, Sofiya Glukhova, Daniel Marchesseau, Meret Meyer, Eva Pasquier, Giorgia Salerno, Sharon Soffer, Agnès Stankevitch and Quitterie du Vigier.
The catalogue raisonné is based on the systematic study of the Archives Marc and Ida Chagall and documents found in all the identified and available archive holdings. Each mosaic has a reference number confirming its inclusion in the catalogue raisonné. The mosaics in the catalogue are presented in chronological order with no technical or thematic distinctions. To make it easier to understand the context in which the mosaics were created, their buildings and locations are mentioned in the titles of the works. The same editorial policy was applied to the preparatory works required for the monumental creations. The mosaic techniques mentioned in the catalogue raisonné are based on research and observation by restorers. Chagall and his collaborators experimented with an innovative range of techniques that are still being studied, so knowledge about them is evolving and sometimes hypothetical.
The catalogue raisonné of Marc Chagall's work is the outcome of a scientific approach whose subject of study is necessarily shifting. It is therefore subject to revision, editing and enrichment with new information. Any information brought to the research team’s attention will be studied and verified. The archives and the catalogue raisonné make no guarantees with regard to the catalogue raisonné or its content, including its exhaustive nature or accuracy. The director and authors of the Marc Chagall catalogue raisonné are solely responsible for its content. It is based on the scientific interpretation of the information and circumstances available to its director and authors at the time of writing.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We express our infinite gratitude Bella and Meret Meyer for their steadfast support. Their trust, knowledge and passion made this project possible.
We are deeply thankful to the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Cathy Cordova and Florence Monnier for their availability and help in our research.
We would like to thank the Museo d'Arte della città di Ravenna and Giorgia Salerno for sharing valuable information about the Blue Rooster mosaic.
Our heartfelt thanks go out to the Knesset in Jerusalem and to Sharon Soffer for sharing her knowledge of mosaics and the archives relating to the project’s inception.
Thanks to Katherine May, Matteo Randi and Peter Huestis of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Thanks to La Réserve, collection restoration and management, and more specifically to Marion Menardy and Florence Feuardent, for sharing their technical research and details about their restoration of the Message of Ulysses mosaic at the School of Law and Economics in Nice.
All our thanks to Sandrine and Benoît Coignard for their availability and technical expertise.
For their invaluable contributions to the research that helped us to enrich our knowledge and draft the catalogue raisonné of the mosaics, we thank Jacques Chave; Anne-Laure Lassaigne; Pascal Marzin; Fabrice Gousset and Marie-Anne Villars.
We also thank all the institutions and private collectors who contributed to this project and wish to remain anonymous.
