DAPHNIS AND CHLOE AND OTHER LOVERS
Lithographs by Marc Chagall
August 31 – December 7, 2025
John Young Museum of Art, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
This exhibition features the complete lithograph print series Daphnis and Chloe (1961) by Marc Chagall, with the addition of several Chagall lithographs dating to 1980 that also celebrate the theme of love between couples, one that Chagall pursued throughout his nearly eighty-year long artistic career.
The source story is a 2nd century Greek pastoral romance novel written by the Greek poet Longus. It tells of two children orphaned on the Greek island of Lesbos, Daphnis and Chloe, whose innocent affection blossoms into a deep emotional connection as they navigate the challenges of adolescence, experiencing love, jealousy, and desire, culminating in their eventual discovery of their true identities and their happy marriage.
The project was first proposed to Chagall in 1939 by the Greek-born publisher Tériade, himself a native of Lesbos. At first Chagall declined, but eventually agreed to take on the commission in 1952. That year and again in 1954, Chagall travelled to Lesbos and other locations in Greece to study the landscape and make preparatory drawings, then spent the next several years refining the compositions.
Chagall began collaborating with French master printer Charles Sorlier in 1958 to create the lithographs, and together they spent the next four years, with much trial and error, trying to achieve the perfect expressive hues required. Each of the 42 prints used as many as 25 colors, with each hue requiring separate printing. Today the Daphnis and Chloé series is considered to be a tour-de-force exemplar of lithographic printing, and one of the most important graphic series of Chagall’s career.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Russia (now in Belarus) on July 7, 1887 into an orthodox Jewish family. He attended art school in St. Petersburg before relocating to Paris, where he worked among such other significant Jewish and expatriate Russian artists and cultural figures. Exiled during the two world wars, first in Soviet Belarus, then in New York City, he returned to France in 1948 and evidentially settled in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, where he lived until his death on March 8, 1985. His distinctive work, characterized by dreamlike imagery and vibrant colors, explored universal themes of love, faith, and innocence, often drawing on his Jewish heritage, his bohemian experiences in Paris, and nostalgia for the Russian village life of his youth.
This exhibition was made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Park West Foundation.
Exhibition organization, by John Szostak, Interim Gallery Director of the University Galleries and John Young Museum of Art, Associate Professor, and Sheika Alghezawi, Associate Director, John Young Museum of Art and University Galleries. Thanks to the staff of the University Galleries and John Young Museum of Art: Installation Graduate Assistant Dylan Gomez, Curatorial Graduate Assistant James Sintumat.
Upcoming public events around Daphnis and Chloe and Other Lovers:
Dreaming in Color: Marc Chagall's Lithographs Lecture by Professor John Szostak on Sunday Sept. 21, 1:00-2:00 PM. Room 101, Art Building, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Exhibition reception: Sunday, Sept. 21, 2:00-4:00 PM, John Young Museum of Art, Krauss Hall, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
The JOHN YOUNG MUSEUM OF ART is located in Krauss Hall at 2500 Dole Street Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822 (Directions).
Museum hours & admission
Tuesday – Friday, & Sunday 12 – 4 p.m.
Closed Saturdays, Mondays, spring break (March 17-19), and state holidays.
Free admission. Donations are appreciated.
Parking fees may apply during weekdays. Parking is free on Sundays
For more information please contact 808.956.8364 and gallery@hawaii.edu