020 - Sirene with Poet (Nice et la Côte d'Azur, CS.27), 1967

"Sirene with Poet (CS.27)" is a lithograph created by Marc Chagall in 1967 for his series 'Nice et la Côte d'Azur'. From the edition of 235, the artwork is signed 'Marc Chagall' lower right and annotated lower left. The artwork is framed in a custom closed-corner gold leaf frame and has a framed size of 37 x 30.5". The artwork ships framed and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

Marc Chagall is celebrated as one of the most visionary and poetic artists of the 20th century. Rooted in personal memory, Jewish folklore, and spiritual symbolism, his singular visual language moved through the currents of Cubism, Fauvism, and Surrealism while remaining unmistakably his own. Though best known as a painter, Chagall was also a master of printmaking, stained glass, and stage design, with a career that spanned nearly a century.

From the 1950s onward, Chagall found profound artistic and emotional inspiration in the luminous atmosphere of the South of France, especially Nice and the surrounding Riviera. The lithograph suite "Nice et la Côte d’Azur," published in 1967, is one of his most beloved tributes to this region. Comprising 12 original lithographs, catalogued as Mourlot CS.26–CS.37, the portfolio was created at Atelier Mourlot in Paris under Chagall’s direct supervision.

Rather than depicting the Riviera as a purely literal place, Chagall transforms it into a realm of memory, joy, love, and light. Across the suite, radiant suns, azure seas, bouquets, winged creatures, floating lovers, coastal villages, and festival-like scenes evoke the spirit of the Côte d’Azur through a dreamlike, emotional lens. Nice, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, the Baie des Anges, and the surrounding mountains appear not as topographic studies, but as poetic landscapes suspended between sea and sky.

The suite gathers many of Chagall’s most sought-after motifs: lovers in flight, abundant flowers, luminous color, village rooftops, and a sense of lyrical wonder. Its technical richness also reflects the importance of Atelier Mourlot, the great Parisian lithographic studio that helped define 20th-century printmaking. Under Chagall’s supervision, the works retain both the vitality of original lithography and the unmistakable spirit of the artist’s hand.

"Nice et la Côte d’Azur" remains one of the crown jewels of Chagall’s graphic legacy. Emotionally uplifting and visually radiant, the suite captures the Riviera not simply as a destination, but as a state of enchantment. Whether viewed as a complete narrative or as individual visual poems, these lithographs embody Chagall’s enduring vision of a world animated by love, nostalgia, color, and wonder.