Les Reves de Tchitchikov

Description of Art: As part of his illustrated suite for Les Âmes Mortes (Dead Souls), Les Rêves de Tchitchikov juxtaposes Chagall’s poetic sensibility with the satirical and surreal narrative of Gogol’s novel. The print features a dreamlike vision, where figures, symbols, and phantasmagoric forms float in an ambiguous space. Chagall’s delicate crosshatching, fine linework, and imaginative distortions evoke a liminal state between waking thought and reverie. In this plate, Tchitchikov—Gogol’s protagonist—is rendered not as a literal traveler but as a wandering spirit among his inner visions, merging character and fantasy into a lyrical realm.