The Master and Margarita: Plate 3
Seul en compagnie de la Lune (Alone With the Moon)
- etching printed in black, 2012
- signed in pencil by the artist lower right margin recto
- numbered in pencil from the edition of 25 + 5 artist's proofs + 2 HC on Arches lower left margin recto
- (there also exists a deluxe hand painted edition of XXV + V artist's proofs + II HC on Arches)
- plate 3 from the portfolio The Master and Margarita
- plate size 17" x 14" (43.1 x 35.5 cm.)
- paper size 24" x 21" (61 x 53.3 cm.)
- published by Gallery of Surrealism, New York
- printed at K. Caraccio Studio, New York with the blindstamp lower left
- Condition: never been framed, generally excellent condition
The Master and Margarita is a political satire squarely aimed at the totalitarian regime of the Stalin period. Deeply humorous and profoundly allegorical, this surrealist masterpiece deals with a variety of philosophical themes including good versus evil, love, religion, and redemption. The story concerns a four day visit by the Devil and his retinue to Moscow and the fantastic and hilarious havoc that ensues. A parallel plot involves an unconventional telling of the meeting and relationship between Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ.
One of the finest literary works of the twentieth century, Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita was suppressed and censored during its writer's lifetime by the Stalinist government it so deftly satirizes. Bulgakov began writing the novel in 1928. He burned the first manuscript in 1930, despondent over a writer's prospects in the Soviet Union, before resuming work in 1931. Bulgakov continued further drafts and revisions until his death in 1940. Censored and incomplete versions circulated in the Soviet Union underground for years until the first complete version was finally published in 1973.
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