Committed to an unfaltering belief that ‘art must be an expression of love,’ Chagall embraces two of his most beloved motifs in Repos du nu rose à l’éventil: a levitating couple and a floral bouquet. For Chagall, the floating couple serves as his symbol for the purity of romantic love and the floral bouquet illustrates is an expression of ‘life itself in all its brilliance’, but the presence of other symbols differentiates this piece from other works by Chagall.

Despite its storied presence in art, a fan is not a common motif within Chagall’s oeuvre,  but it does augment the unique perspective and enriches the vignette in ways that are both nuanced and subtle. Setting aside its most common associations with wealth or royalty, here, there is an air of sub rosa flirtation, an alluring part of any courtship that must have touched a note of sweet remembrance for the artist. Painted as he approached his ninetieth year, Repos du nu rose à l’éventil is a mixed media work employing tempera, gouache, and pastel that provides proof that this highly prolific artist retained his vitality and creative power. It conveys the ethereal lyricism we have come to expect from Chagall. It is the visible world transformed into a dreamlike, idyllic fantasy that allows us to share and participate in the purity of love and life beautiful.