Chagall print seized by French customs in 2006 enters Besançon museum collection

After 20 years in customs storage, Marc Chagall's 1924 print 'L'Acrobate au violon' has been officially donated to the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon. The work was seized in 2006 during an attempted export to Switzerland without the required certificate. The owners abandoned it, and it remained in customs reserves until recently, when regional customs director Estelle Rocklin requested an expert appraisal. A museum conservator documented the piece, leading to its formal transfer to the city on July 20, 2026. This is the first Chagall work to enter the museum's collection. The print, created after Chagall's return to France in 1923, reflects his personal poetic language blending Jewish tradition, Eastern European shtetl memory, Russian folklore, and Parisian avant-garde. The violin motif, recurring in his work, evokes Jewish musical traditions, celebration, family memory, and popular spirituality. The image depicts an acrobat with a hat and long beard accompanied by an animal playing violin, part of Chagall's circus iconography that he considered a tragic metaphor for the human condition. For conservation reasons, the print will not be permanently displayed but will appear in future temporary exhibitions.