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When it was suggested to Chagall that he illustrate the fable of Daphnis & Chloé, he began his preparation by making two trips to Greece. Chagall was delighted with the tale, which analyzed the simple, mutual passion of two abandoned children who are raised by a shepherd. The children are protected by nymphs and the god, Pan, and finally marry after being cruelly separated for a time because of the abduction of the maiden by a pirate.
The work on the preliminary sketches and gouaches for the series involved Chagall in trips to Athens, Delphi, Olympia, Nauplis, and Poros; in the course of these excursions, he fell in love with the Greek sea, archaic sculpture, Greek landscape, and especially Greek light. And it is the very essence of the Greek landscape that was absorbed by the artist and then recreated on pages drenched in blue, shimmering with the shiniest yellow and shadowed in the palest mauve.
Charles Sorlier, the colorist for the project, hand-mixed the color palette Chagall used in this suite. He and Chagall worked together to develop new blues and greens to meet Chagall’s vision of this paradisiacal story. Chagall also experimented with surface textures. It was standard at the time this suite was published in 1961 to use approximately 3 to 6 lithographic stones in creating a single print. Chagall generally used 25-30 individual stones per print in the Daphnis & Chloé suite creating the density and layering of color, which is so unique and rich. Charles Sorlier went on to become a printmaker in his own name; interestingly, he referred to himself as a ‘color therapist.’
Chagall designed sets for Diaghilev at the Ballet Russe (1909-29). He knew Vaslev Nijinsky personally and took drawing classes with him in Paris. Chagall later created sets for Daphnis & Chloé for the Paris Opéra where in 1964 he painted stunning images on the inside of the dome.