The museum's collection

The museum's collections and their development have evolved quite naturally over the years since the institution was founded.
They were first built up through the collection donated by Chagall in 1972, which included the donation of the Message Biblique in 1966, as well as all the preparatory work and numerous other works:

• the 1931 Bible gouaches.
• the 105 Bible engravings and their copperplates
• an important collection of lithographs, including the two suites of biblical lithographs from Verve magazine.
• 5 sculptures, including 2 important bas-reliefs
• 1 ceramic

The 1972 donation represents over 250 works.
Chagall continued to enrich the collections until his death, depositing copies of his illustrated books at the time of their publication or suites of his illustrations (sets of separate prints of the illustrations, without the text).

The posthumous dation in 1988, enriched the museum with 10 biblical paintings, deposited by the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, which received the dation.
In 1986 and 1988, Charles Sorlier, Chagall's regular lithographer at Mourlot, donated an abundant collection of lithographs on biblical and secular subjects to the museum.
The successive curators' acquisition policy to enrich the museum's collections has gradually shifted towards a broader vision of the artist's work as a whole. Various acquisitions, purchases, deposits from the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, and bequests now give the public access to the entire body of work.

All reproductions of works in the collections are available on the RMN photo agency website.