Foundation Maeght, Paris 1967, Original Poster, Chagall

This poster was reproduced by master printer Charles Sorlier at Mourlot Studios to promote The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1966. The image is a vibrant reproduction of a lithograph by Marc Chagall.

Artist: Marc Chagall (1887-1985), a Russian-French-Jewish artist, was one of the 20th century's most influential modernists and a master of colour. Known for his work as a painter, book illustrator, ceramicist, and stage-set designer, Chagall’s vivid style is celebrated worldwide. In 1954, Picasso remarked, “When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter alive who understands what colour really is.”

Chagall approached lithography uniquely, layering colors directly onto plates rather than starting with black outlines. This process created exceptionally rich, painterly images. In 1948, already a renowned artist, Chagall returned to Paris after World War II, seeking new beginnings after surviving two world wars, the Russian Revolution, and Jewish persecution. He began a fruitful collaboration with Sorlier, and by 1960, Chagall would say of his lithographic work: “When I held a lithographic stone or a copperplate in my hand, it felt like a talisman…I could pour all my joys and sorrows into it.”