1923

The Watering Trough

French (born Vitebsk, Russian Empire), 1887 - 1985

This painting was one of the first works that Chagall completed upon his return to Paris in September 1923. The humorous subject matter—a bent-over woman struggles to prevent a watering trough from tipping over while a pig gives her a sly look—is typical of Chagall’s work in the 1920s, which often features a droll menagerie of mischievous animals and birds. The heightened color effects and the softening of forms and contours are also characteristic of the artist’s work during his second Paris period, which is often criticized for its overly sweet and nostalgic depictions of life in Russia before the revolution of 1917.