The Romantic Painting That Set Marc Chagall's Auction Record
3 min read · 28 Mar 2025
Les Amoureux. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
Marc Chagall's Les Amoureux (1928) sold for $28.45m at Sotheby's in New York on November 14, 2017. The oil on canvas work had been traded once before.
Chagall painted himself being embraced by his wife and muse, the writer Bella Rosenfeld, in 1928. His early masterwork dates from a time of great happiness for the couple after they had moved to France with their young daughter.
Their relationship inspired the artist to create several paintings depicting the couple as lovers, the first of which date from the time there were both living in Russia.
Chagall had returned from Paris to Russia in 1914 but the First World War and Russian Revolution delayed his return.
Chagall's return to Paris in 1923, now a married man, coincided with the rise of Surrealism. The artist was pleasantly surprised to find that the Surrealists admired his dream-like and poetic painting.
Sold in 1928 by gallery Bernheim Jeune & Cie to a private collector, the painting remained in the same family for nine decades before it was consigned to auction.
Birthday. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
The sale beat Chagall's previous auction record by $13.6m, a 91% rise. His previous record was set by another portrait of the young couple, painted shortly before he married Rosenfeld. The Birthday (1915) sold for $14.85m at Sotheby's on May 17, 1990.
A Brief History of Chagall at Auction
Sale Date | Title | Price | Record Increase | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017-11-14 | Les Amoureux | $28.45m | 92 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1990-05-17 | Birthday | $14.85m | 65 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1990-05-15 | Au dessus de la ville | $9m | 62 % | Christie's | New York |
1990-04-03 | La mariee sous le baldaquin | $5.56m | 32 % | Sotheby's | London |
1989-05-08 | Le violoniste au monde renverse | $4.2m | 64 % | Habsburg | New York |
1988-06-27 | Paris la Grande Roue | $2.55m | 82 % | Christie's | London |
1987-11-10 | Le bouquet des fermiers | $1.4m | 8 % | Christie's | New York |
1987-05-11 | Paysage de Paris | $1.3m | 29 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1985-12-02 | La chambre jaune | $1.01m | 43 % | Christie's | London |
1976-11-29 | Les amoureux au bouquet de fleurs | $708,800 | 184 % | Sotheby's | London |
1973-10-17 | Panier de fleurs | $250,000 | 42 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1968-12-04 | Les fiances | $176,400 | 16 % | Sotheby's | London |
1900-01-01 | Verve | $152,000 | - | Ketterer Kunst | Hamburg |
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