"Four tales from the Arabian Nights: Plate 3", 1948
Signed and numbered lower margin
Color lithograph
Framed:
28"H x 24"W x 1.5"D inc
72 H x 60W x 4D cm
Edition number 49 of 90
 
Plates 3 from the series "Four Tales from Arabian Nights" (1948), created after M.Chagall was commissioned to produce illustrations inspired by the classic Middle Eastern stories commonly known as Arabian Nights.
The title itself comes directly from the story text and reflects Chagall's characteristic lyrical, intimate and floating composition style.
In the 1940s-1950s, Chagall was commissioned to create illustrations for One Thousand and One Nights (often call Arabic Nights).
The stories- filled with magic, romance, fantasy, and transformation- perfectly matched Chagall's imaginative visual language. 
Chagall's "Arabic Nights" works are considered among his most lyrical graphic pieces.
They show how a Western modern artist engaged deeply with Middle Eastern literary tradition- without realism, but with reverence and imagination.