"Great art picks up where nature ends." - Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was born to a Russian Jewish family and had the privilege of being taught by the famous Russian painter Leon Bakst (1866-1924), at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. The sign of a true artistic rebel, Chagall was expelled from the Academy for creating his version of a Pieta that was too realistic.
The Painter in Paris
In 1910, Chagall moved to Paris where he lived for four years, and painted some of his most famous artworks. These are the years that Chagall spent honing his signature style of dream-like allegorical paintings based on Jewish and Russian folklore, and tales from the Bible.
Cubism, Picasso and Cezanne
Chagall arrived in Paris at a most fortuitous time in art history. Cubism began and flourished from 1908 to 1911, an art movement or style begun by Picasso and Braque. Cubism was an art movement that believed in the representation of multiple points of view simultaneously. The French artist Paul Cezanne is also considered by many art historians to be the grandfather of Cubism, and acknowledgement must be made to the influence of African masks that began to be imported in the early 1900s.
Fauvism in Paris
Fauvism slightly pre-dates Cubism as it was an active school of art or art movement from 1905 to 1907, also in Paris. These Wild Beasts, or Fauvists, of the art world believed in bright colors, lots of movement in the composition and the use of wild brushstrokes in their paintings.
Imagery and Symbolism
Marc Chagall is in Paris during an incredibly rich time and his friends included Amadeo Modigliani, Robert Delaunay and Roger de La Fresnaye. Chagall is influenced by poets, by Fauvism and by Cubism as well as the imagery and symbolism that is throughout the Old Testament. All of this together mixes in the psychic palette of Chagall to create the artists unique style of magic or romantic surrealism. Chagall's use of rich and vibrant colors is similar to the Fauves, but the narrative or story-telling aspect of the artist's work is uniquely his own.
Chagall and WWII
During World War II, Chagall flees to the United States during the Nazi occupation of France. Chagall also has the dubious pleasure of having one of his paintings deemed as Degenerate in the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany.
Marc Chagall is an important and very influential artist from the 20th century. Look for the artwork of Marc Chagall at your next museum visit. There are dozens of great artworks by Marc Chagall at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Sources:
- Encyclopedia Britannica online.
- www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Chagall-Marc.html
- www.philamuseum.org/collections/98-296-110.html?page=2
Mary Rayme - Mary Rayme is a graphic designer and arts educator with a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.
