If we ask you to name one painting by Marc Chagall, we guarantee that you will name the painting “Above the City.” Have you seen how late paintings artist are different from early works? Did you know who he drew in all his female images and when he began to foresee the danger to the lives of Jews? KYKY together with the Bulbash® brand, which produces a New Year calendar dedicated to the Belarusian fine arts, decided to study ten works by Chagall to remember those worth being proud of. Well, so that there is something to show off in small talk in the company of aesthetes.
"Old Lady with a Ball", 1906
In 1906, the year this painting was painted, Marc Chagall studied fine art at art school Vitebsk painter Yudel Pan, and then moved to St. Petersburg.
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In his book “My Life,” Chagall describes this period as follows: “Having seized twenty-seven rubles - the only money in my entire life that my father gave me for art education, - I, a rosy-cheeked and curly-haired young man, am going to St. Petersburg with a friend. It's decided! Tears and pride choked me when I picked up the money from the floor - my father threw it under the table. He crawled and picked up. To my father’s questions, I stammered and answered that I wanted to go to art school... I don’t remember exactly what face he made and what he said. Most likely, at first he said nothing, then, as usual, he heated up the samovar, poured himself some tea, and only then, with his mouth full, said: “Well, go if you want.” But remember: I don't have any more money. You know. That's all I can scrape together. I won't send anything. You can't count on it."
In St. Petersburg, Chagall studied at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, headed by Nicholas Roerich. By the way, he was accepted into the school with such a tender name without an exam immediately into the third year. And “The Old Lady with a Ball” is a painting by Chagall, very characteristic of the described period of the artist’s life. Pure expressionism, in which expression prevails over image.
"Model", 1910
When Chagall wrote "Model", he was already living in Paris. During this period of his life, he became acquainted with new directions artistic arts: cubism, fauvism and expressionism. And, by the way, only in France did he begin to call himself Mark, and not Moses, as was customary from birth.
The painting shows a girl painting a picture. Despite the fact that the artist is dressed in Parisian fashion, on the wall you can see a carpet with a characteristic Slavic ornament- a kind of tribute to the homeland. We will not go into finding out whose artist he is, but we will hint that Wikipedia considers him “a Russian and French artist Jewish origin, born in the Vitebsk province."
About this theme: “Generation Ў has grown up before our eyes.” Regulars of the Gallery talk about how this place became a cult place And although the lady on the canvas is calm, the color scheme of the painting is alarming. It is known that Chagall associated red shades with anxiety: as a child in Vitebsk little artist witnessed a fire. Then the future creator barely escaped. It seems that in the painting Chagall embodied all his anxiety and anxiety associated with the move that had just happened from St. Petersburg to Paris.
"The Violinist", 1912-1913
In the Jewish way of life, the violinist has always been important: no birth, no funeral, no wedding could take place without a musician. So the violinist became a symbol of the whole human life. This picture shows almost all the seasons: in the foreground is yellow autumn, turning into spring. The background is winter.
And the violinist also seems to consist of different areas, defining his belonging to a certain people. In general, the whole picture is oversaturated with color, conveying the artist’s energy. Do you know why the violinist plays on the roof? Chagall himself said left and right that this is not artistic technique: allegedly, he had an uncle who, when he drank compote, climbed onto the roof so that no one could disturb him. All that remains is to take the artist’s word for it.
"Blue Lovers", 1914
Marc Chagall's famous series - "Blue Lovers", "Pink Lovers", "Grey Lovers", "Green Lovers" - was dedicated to his beloved woman - the daughter of a successful jeweler Bella Rosenfeld. These paintings were painted during the period of their marriage, although even after Bella’s death, Chagall continued to include her in almost all of his female images. No wonder - Rosenfeld waited for Chagall for four years while he was in Paris. After which Chagall returned to Vitebsk to take Bella to France.
About this theme: “I was carrying priceless exhibits in ordinary luggage.” Chaim Soutine Museum in Smilovichi The painting “Blue Lovers” is clearly phantasmagorical. Space and objects are distorted, as if in a dream. For the artist, blue is the embodiment of the Mother of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. It was this color that Chagall used to convey the feeling of love, happiness and tenderness.
"Gate of the Jewish Cemetery", 1916
The world of the picture is spiritual and directed towards the sky, at the same time collapsing and chaotic. Take a closer look: it shows a monumental old gate, open to new inhabitants. The gaze of the beholder follows the lunar path to the graves, which stand in the very center of the canvas.
Abstract color planes, contrasts, dynamics of moonlight and the night sky give the painting, as researchers of Chagall’s works note, the features of sacred painting. In fact, the most important thing to understand is that already in 1916 Chagall foresaw a global tragedy.
“Above the City”, 1914-1918
Well, you know this picture for sure. Of course, it’s not difficult to guess that the artist and his wife Bella are depicted here. And they fly over Vitebsk - this is also understandable.
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Chagall strives to show a person the transience of time, and how much he wastes it. The artist does not detail the objects in the painting; this is only a world of memories and dreams. There are no laws of physics, no logic, only soaring souls in their romantic world. Chagall, by the way, painted not only lovers flying - for him, flying was not a strange pastime for a person at all, and could arise from different emotions of mental states.
We also urgently ask you to notice a little man on the left under the fence who is relieving himself - here it is, an understanding of Chagall’s romance. The world is indivisible, and everyday irony is adjacent to love lyrics. Everything is like in life.
"Walk", 1918
Again a man and a woman. Apart from them holding hands, there is nothing important in the world at this moment. These two are again real people– Mark himself and his wife Bella. He is standing on the ground. She is in heaven. And at the same time, together, holding hands, they connect the earthly world with the world of dreams.
These two paintings - "Above the City" and "Walk" - which are most often associated with Chagall's work, belong to the time period between 1914 and 1918. One can note the obvious portrait resemblance of the figures to Chagall and Rosenfeld himself, the poeticization of the landscapes of Vitebsk. And “Walk” became part of a triptych. The same series included the paintings “Double Portrait” and “Above the City”. IN " Double portrait“Bella sits on her husband’s shoulders and prepares to jump, and in the film “Over the City” they are already soaring in the sky together. The “walk” was also interpreted as an escape from the reality that the revolution represented at that time. And Chagall himself wrote: “An artist must sometimes be in diapers” - apparently meaning that external world should not derail the creator's peaceful flight of fancy.
"White Crucifix", 1938
About this theme: “Legal” performances that every Belarusian must watch Chagall's creation, which embodies the artist's vision of his contemporary world. Remember Chagall’s Jewish cemetery twenty years ago and compare how much more tragic this painting looks. Pay attention to the white beam - it crosses the picture from top to bottom. Art historians believe that this detail represents God himself, but this is inaccurate. The Jewish injunction forbade the depiction of God, and this ray illuminating Christ becomes the personification of the fact that death is destroyed. He forces us to perceive Christ as asleep, and not dead.
In the picture you can see a green figure with a bag over his shoulders. This figure appears in several of Chagall's works and has been interpreted as either the Jewish traveler or the prophet Elijah. Also in the middle of the composition is a boat - an association with the hope of salvation from the Nazis.
The painting was painted right before the war - in the year when the Nazis carried out a series of murders of the Jewish people. The background of this picture precisely shows scenes of disasters, pogroms and persecution. “White Crucifixion” is a clear premonition of the coming Holocaust. By the way, this is Pope Francis’ favorite painting.
"Wedding Lights", 1945
About this theme: “Schubert is 19th-century pop.” Who raises and how classical music in Belarus from the knees Like almost all paintings that depict women, this painting is dedicated to the artist’s first wife, Bella. Chagall met her back in 1909 in Vitebsk, after several years of Parisian wanderings, which we have already written about, he married and lived with her for three decades, until her death in 1944. Bella became main woman in Chagall's life and the main muse. After the death of his wife, Chagall wrote nothing for nine months, and then, even when entering into relationships with others, he always wrote only for her and for her. Two more of his famous passions are the daughter of the former British consul in the USA Virginia Mankill-Haggard, who ran away from Mark with their son, and Valentina Brodskaya, the daughter of a Kyiv manufacturer who lived with Chagall for 33 years and became an excellent manager for him. She completely stopped his communication with Virginia, his son and many former acquaintances, but Chagall worked a lot during this period and became commercially successful.
"Night", 1953
The artist’s movements and events in his life changed the direction of his painting. Chagall's worldview, dynamic and multi-layered, sometimes makes it difficult to understand the subjects of his paintings. The painting was painted upon returning to Paris after emigrating to the USA. A year before, he had already met the owner of a London hat salon, Valentina Brodskaya, and clearly began to change his view of the world and his former life.
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The mystical “Night,” as art critics note, reflects religious themes and conveys nostalgia for Vitebsk. This work also shows Chagall’s love for women, but the plot is incomprehensible without study color range. The red rooster represents the artist’s expectations of imminent changes and worries. The rooster is also associated with Chagall's religious views. The theme of flying people continues. The woman looks real. Flight symbolizes freedom. And the night in the background only emphasizes it: absolute freedom to travel in dreams.
By the way, with Valentina’s approval, Chagall began drawing sketches for church stained glass windows. So if you are in the French Cathedral of St. Stephen in Metz, the German Church of St. Martin and St. Stephen in Main, the English Cathedral of All Saints in Toodley, the UN building in New York, don’t forget to ask about him there.
This year the Bulbash company® Thanks to the works of young authors who were inspired by the works of iconic Belarusian artists, I created an original calendar. The works in it are dedicated to 12 famous masters of Belarus: Peter Blum, Marc Chagall, El Lissitzky, Yazep Drozdovich, Napoleon Orda and others. The idea is revealed both in the limited edition of the Bulbash® Special Art Edition product itself, and in the Bulbash® calendars for 2018.
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Painting has always attracted people with its diversity, the beauty of depicting the world or, conversely, the reduction of its perfection. Artists and their works are a reflection of the era, a mirror of the life of certain years. Today we will talk about very famous person, who was not only an artist, but also a poet, stage designer and illustrator, Marc Zakharovich Chagall (July 7, 1887 - March 28, 1985), namely about his outstanding paintings.
For Chagall, who was Jewish, the image of a violinist played an important role in his life. After all, among these people, a violinist is an indispensable attribute at a wedding, a child’s birthday, and a funeral. In his work “The Green Violinist” the artist demonstrated the entire human life cycle. The painting was painted in 1923–1924 in the USA.
The canvas depicts the artist himself with his wife Bella. She can often be seen in Chagall's paintings, and this work is part of a triptych, on each of which the artist depicts his wife. The work was written in 1917–1918 and demonstrates the departure from everyday life, the flight of the soul and the inseparability of hearts.
The artist began painting this picture back in 1920, but was able to finish it only in 1943 in America. He was inspired to create a masterpiece by the catastrophic events that took place at that time. In the picture we see the falling angel Lucifer, who was expelled by God.
This work actually has no narrative. One can only assume that in the foreground of the canvas on the right is Chagall himself - a city dweller who yearns for silence and moderation village life.
Chagall painted this picture 13 years after he left his native Vitebsk. He depicted the cityscape almost exactly, and also added a naked woman, hinting at how much he loved the city.
Looking at this canvas, you immediately get the impression that you are in a house, in a dacha lyrical heroes. This work was written in happy years the artist and on it we see him and his wife Bella.
This painting hints at the transience of human life. On the left we see a little man at the window, who watches the eternity of the world, and next to him is a very large clock, counting down the minutes and leaving not the slightest chance.
In 1968, the artist painted the painting “ Great Circus" Here we see the circus arena that is familiar to us, but the action takes place outside of it. Above the audience and the circus rises an angel in a cap, a sacrificial animal with a case for Torah scrolls, and above all this rises the hand of the Demiurge with a compass.
This picture was painted by Chagall in 1923. Considered one of his best works. In 1990, it was sold for $13.5 million. Depicts a sweet bourgeois life, feelings, hope, as well as youth and love. Even the rug and gramophone look romantic on her.
Here again we see Bella, Chagall’s wife, and his favorite city, Vitebsk. The two soared above the city, their love unconcerned with gravity and the frailty of life. In this painting, the artist again combines the high and the ordinary, which is his distinctive feature, giving individuality to his work.
Love and faith are the main themes of Marc Chagall's paintings. Love called him to write, create, draw... He wanted to “fly”, but he never forgot where he was going.
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Mark Zakharovich (Moisey Khatskelevich) Chagall (French Marc Chagall, Yiddish מאַרק שאַגאַל; July 7, 1887, Vitebsk, Vitebsk province, Russian empire(current Vitebsk region, Belarus) - March 28, 1985, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Provence, France) - Russian and French artist Belarusian-Jewish origin. In addition to graphics and painting, he was also involved in scenography and wrote poetry in Yiddish. One of the most famous representatives artistic avant-garde of the 20th century.
Movsha Khatskelevich (later Moses Khatskelevich and Mark Zakharovich) Chagall was born on June 24 (July 6), 1887 in the Peskovatik area on the outskirts of Vitebsk, was the eldest child in the family of clerk Khatskel Mordukhovich (Davidovich) Chagall (1863-1921) and his wife Feiga-Ita Mendelevna Chernina (1871-1915). He had one brother and five sisters. The parents married in 1886 and were each other's first cousins. The artist’s grandfather, Dovid Yeselevich Chagall (in documents also Dovid-Mordukh Ioselevich Sagal, 1824-?), came from the town of Babinovichi, Mogilev province, and in 1883 settled with his sons in the town of Dobromysli, Orsha district, Mogilev province, so in the “Lists of owners real estate city of Vitebsk”, the artist’s father Khatskel Mordukhovich Chagall is recorded as a “dobromyslyan tradesman”; the artist's mother came from Liozno. Belonged to the Chagall family since 1890 wooden house on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street in the 3rd part of Vitebsk (significantly expanded and rebuilt in 1902 with eight apartments for rent). Marc Chagall also spent a significant part of his childhood in the house of his maternal grandfather Mendel Chernin and his wife Basheva (1844-?, the artist’s paternal grandmother), who by that time lived in the town of Liozno, 40 km from Vitebsk.
He received a traditional Jewish education at home, studying Hebrew, the Torah and the Talmud. From 1898 to 1905, Chagall studied at the 1st Vitebsk four-year school. In 1906 he studied fine arts at the art school of the Vitebsk painter Yudel Pan, then moved to St. Petersburg.
From Marc Chagall’s book “My Life”: “Having taken twenty-seven rubles - the only money in my entire life that my father gave me for an art education - I, a rosy-cheeked and curly-haired young man, am going to St. Petersburg with a friend. It’s decided! Tears and pride were choking me, when I picked up the money from the floor, my father threw it under the table. I crawled and picked it up. To my father’s questions, I answered, stuttering, that I wanted to go to art school... I don’t remember exactly what face he made and what he said. At first he said nothing, then, as usual, he warmed up the samovar, poured himself some tea, and then, with his mouth full, he said: “Well, go if you want. But remember: I don’t have any more money.” I can scrape together. I won’t send anything. You don’t have to count on it.”
In St. Petersburg, for two seasons, Chagall studied at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, which was headed by N.K. Roerich (he was accepted into the school without an exam for the third year). In 1909-1911 he continued studying with L. S. Bakst at the private art school of E. N. Zvantseva. Thanks to his Vitebsk friend Victor Mekler and Thea Brakhman, the daughter of a Vitebsk doctor who also studied in St. Petersburg, Marc Chagall entered the circle of young intelligentsia, passionate about art and poetry. Thea Brahman was educated and modern girl, several times she posed nude for Chagall. In the fall of 1909, while staying in Vitebsk, Thea introduced Marc Chagall to her friend Bertha (Bella) Rosenfeld, who at that time was studying in one of the best educational institutions for girls - Guerrier School in Moscow. This meeting turned out to be decisive in the fate of the artist. “With her, not with Thea, but with her I should be - suddenly it dawns on me! She is silent, and so am I. She looks - oh, her eyes! - Me too. It’s as if we’ve known each other for a long time, and she knows everything about me: my childhood, my present life, and what will happen to me; as if she was always watching me, was somewhere nearby, although I saw her for the first time. And I realized: this is my wife. The eyes shine on a pale face. Large, convex, black! These are my eyes, my soul. Thea instantly became a stranger and indifferent to me. I entered new house, and he became mine forever” (Marc Chagall, “My Life”). Love theme in Chagall's work is invariably associated with the image of Bella. From the canvases of all periods of his work, including the later one (after Bella’s death), her “bulging black eyes” look at us. Her features are recognizable in the faces of almost all the women he depicts.
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Chagall Mark Zakharovich (real patronymic Khatskelevich) ( Chagall Marc), graphic artist, painter, theater artist, illustrator, master of monumental and applied types art; a native of Russia. One of the leaders of the world avant-garde of the 20th century, Chagall managed to organically combine the ancient traditions of Jewish culture with cutting-edge innovation. Born in Vitebsk on June 24 (July 6), 1887. Received traditional religious education at home (Hebrew, reading the Torah and Talmud). In 1906 he came to St. Petersburg, where in 1906–1909 he attended the drawing school at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, the studio of S.M. Zaidenberg and the school of E.N. Zvantseva. He lived in St. Petersburg-Petrograd, Vitebsk and Moscow, and in Paris from 1910–1914. All of Chagall's work is initially autobiographical and lyrically confessional. Already in his early paintings, themes of childhood, family, death, deeply personal and at the same time “eternal” dominate (Saturday, 1910, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne). Over time, the theme of the artist’s passionate love for his first wife, Bella Rosenfeld (Above the City, 1914–1918, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) comes to the fore. Characteristic are the motifs of the “shtetl” landscape and life, coupled with the symbolism of Judaism (Gate of the Jewish Cemetery, 1917, private collection, Paris).
However, looking at the archaic, including the Russian icon and popular print (which had a great influence on him), Chagall joins futurism and predicts future avant-garde movements. Grotesque and illogical subjects, sharp deformations and surreal-fabulous color contrasts of his canvases (I and the Village, 1911, Museum contemporary art, NY; Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers, 1911–1912, City Museum, Amsterdam) have a great influence on the development of surrealism.
After October revolution In 1918–1919, Chagall served as commissar of the CPSU (Bolsheviks) of the provincial department of public education in Vitebsk, and decorated the city for revolutionary holidays. In Moscow, Chagall painted a series of large wall panels for the Jewish Chamber Theater, thereby taking the first significant step towards monumental art. Having left for Berlin in 1922, from 1923 he lived in France, Paris or the south of the country, temporarily leaving it in 1941–1947 (he spent these years in New York). Ran into different countries Europe and the Mediterranean, and visited Israel more than once. Having mastered various engraving techniques, Chagall created, in 1923–1930, commissioned by Ambroise Vollard, strikingly expressive illustrations for Dead souls Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and Fables of J. de La Fontaine. By the middle of the 20th century, his authority as an artist - painter, graphic artist, master theatrical arts, as well as decorative ceramics (which he worked on since 1950) - received worldwide recognition.
As he reaches the peak of fame, his style - generally surreal and expressionistic - becomes easier and more relaxed. Not only the main characters, but also all the elements of the image float, forming constellations of colored visions. Through the recurring themes of Vitebsk childhood, love, and circus performances, dark echoes of past and future world catastrophes float in (Time Has No Coasts, 1930–1939, Museum of Modern Art, New York). Since 1955, work began on Chagall's Bible - this is the name for a huge cycle of paintings that reveal the world of the ancestors of the Jewish people in a surprisingly emotional and bright, naively wise form. In line with this cycle, the master created and big number monumental sketches, compositions based on which decorated sacred buildings of different religions - both Judaism and Christianity in its Catholic and Protestant varieties: ceramic panels and stained glass windows of the chapel in Assy (Savoy) and the cathedral in Metz, 1957–1958; stained glass windows: synagogues of the medical faculty of the Hebrew University near Jerusalem, 1961; Cathedral (Fraumünster Church) in Zurich, 1969–1970; Cathedral in Reims, 1974; St. Stephen's Church in Mainz, 1976–1981; and etc.). These works of Marc Chagall radically updated the language of modern monumental art, enriching it with powerful colorful lyricism.
In 1973, Chagall visited Moscow and St. Petersburg in connection with an exhibition of his works in Tretyakov Gallery. Chagall died in Saint-Paul-de-Vence (Alpes-Maritimes, France) on March 28, 1985.
