Marc Chagall – ‘Femme au corsage rouge avec grand bouquet’ (ca. 1984)

A late masterpiece full of symbolism and luminosity

In his work ‘Femme au corsage rouge avec grand bouquet’ (ca. 1984), Marc Chagall once again combines many of the central motifs that characterise his artistic oeuvre. The depiction of a woman in a red corsage dress is at the centre of this work on paper – executed in tempera, gouache, and pastel. The figure is positioned in the corner of the picture, her gaze appears gentle and direct, her hands rest in front of her body – a calm, meditative pose that is typical of Chagall’s late work.

The bright red colour of the dress stands in expressive contrast to the woman’s blue hair and lends her a special presence. She appears both real and symbolic – an apparition somewhere between memory and dream. As is so often the case with Chagall, biographical references can be surmised: The loss of his first wife Bella also reverberates tangibly in this late work. The spiritual aura of the woman depicted is reinforced by the vivid colours and the embedded scenery.

Flowers, animals, and fantasy: Chagall’s visual language

To the woman’s left is a colourful bouquet of flowers stretching across the sheet’s height. A hen appears in the centre of the bouquet—a motif both surreal and familiar in Chagall’s work. Floating completely dimensionless, it refers to rural life, to earthiness and vitality. Its surprising placement within the floral composition is a typical example of Chagall’s combination of everyday reality with spiritual symbolism.

Return to Vitebsk: memories of home

To the right of the picture is a small village scene consisting of simple, sketchily indicated houses. It appears blurred, almost like a fragment of memory – a silent reference to Chagall’s birthplace of Vitebsk in Belarus. The contrast between this simple rural architecture and the bright colours of the rest of the composition creates a visual tension that underlines the dreamlike character of the work.

A legacy in colour and form

‘Femme au corsage rouge avec grand bouquet’ was created just one year before Chagall’s death. It can be read as a summary of his artistic life: Love, memory, home, spirituality, and imagination flow together in a compositionally dense visual language. Chagall’s ability to condense colours into emotions and symbols into narratives is impressively demonstrated in this late work.