Chagall Posters Celebrate His Art : The University of Judaism displays its lithograph collection from one of the masters of 20th Century

The University of Judaism in Bel-Air is celebrating the holidays with a symphony of images--free-flying angels, clowns, musicians, animals--depicted in the posters of Marc Chagall.

An exhibit of 22 lithographic posters designed by the artist and produced in conjunction with two French printers will run at the university art gallery through Jan. 27.

Most of the lithographs were produced in the 1960s for Chagall exhibits in Europe. Several promoted the opening performances of operas for which Chagall also designed interiors and costumes. One work, titled “The Tribe of Gad,” is based on a study of his renowned stained glass windows in Jerusalem representing the 12 tribes of Israel.

James Jacobson, chairman of the University’s Fine Arts Council, said the show represents a cross-section of the artist’s considerable body of poster work.

The Chagall posters have been in the university’s private collection for three years, Jacobson said, but this is the first time they have been on public display. They are for sale, with prices averaging about $1,500.

The artist collaborated on the lithographs with Fernand Mourlot and Charles Sorlier, two eminent Parisian printers whose names also appear on the works.

Chagall prepared the designs, sometimes using details from his painting or sketches. The design was then reproduced on zinc and stone engraving plates. In the collaborations with Mourlot, Chagall actually took part in the printing, physically pulling the lithographs off the plates, Jacobson said. The artist supervised Sorlier’s work, but was not involved in the printing to the same extent, Jacobson said. In most cases, hundreds of posters were printed based on a design.

Chagall’s name has been in the news recently along with several other 20th-Century masters as the result of federal and local investigations into the sale of forgeries by private dealers and galleries. Some of the forgeries included supposed Chagall graphics.

The posters at the university exhibit were donated from the private collection of a Los Angeles-area doctor three years ago, Jacobson said. Although he said the risk of forgery can never be completely ruled out, he said officials “have good reason to believe” the works are genuine.

Some of the more striking works on display have roots in Chagall’s love of music and grew out of his projects in set design and decoration at opera houses around the world. The opera posters are a swirl of color and serene floating figures that populated Chagall’s artistic universe, evoking the content of the operas while remaining distinctly personal.

A poster for Bizet’s “Carmen” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1966 includes a portrayal of Sir Rudolf Bing, the opera director who commissioned the work, as one of the central characters. There is a poster for a 1967 Met production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” with sets and costumes by Chagall.

A poster for a 1964 Paris production of “Romeo and Juliet” is based on the artist’s preliminary sketches for the ceiling of the Paris Opera. The ceiling design was commissioned by writer Andre Malraux, then Minister of Culture, and executed by Chagall as a gift to the city of Paris.

Among the others, a 1963 lithograph has significance for the present day as change sweeps Chagall’s native Russia. The poster, entitled “Revolution,” was commissioned for a French government-sponsored exhibition of socially relevant artwork entitled “Painters as Witnesses of their Times.” Chagall based the poster on a 1937 sketch depicting his vision of the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.

In a poem about that time, Chagall wrote: “Russia was covered with ice. Lenin had turned it upside down, the way I turn my paintings.”

The Chagall exhibit at the Platt Gallery, University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive, in Bel-Air, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. The gallery is also open weekends during concerts at the university. For information call (213) 476-9777.