Marc Chagall
Born – Vitebsk, Russia 1887
Died – Saint Paul-de-Vence, France 1985
From a devout Jewish background, Marc Chagall entered art school in St Petersburg in 1907. Throughout his career he worked as a signpainter, and the influence of these techniques are evident in his paintings. His early style combined the primitive representation of folk art with the more sophisticated influence of Gaugin and the Fauves, whose work he saw in St Petersburg. In 1910 Chagall went to Paris. Back in his home tow of Vitebsk by 1914, Chagall joined the Knave of Diamond group. Declaring their admiration for French painting, the group mounted an exhibition designed as a protest against the Moscow Art School. After the revolution in 1917, Chagall briefly became director of Vitebsk art school before designing murals for the Jewish State Theatre in Moscow. In works such as The Poet Reclining, Chagall painted rural scenes remembered with a childlike nostalgia. His richly coloured lyrical paintings depict objects and people in unusual juxtapositions, often floating in space. His later work produced designs for the ballet, stained glass windows and paintings for the ceilings of the Paris Opera.
Masterpieces:
- I and the Village
- Paris Through the Window
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About marc chagall
Marc Chagall, 1887-1985: Painting as Poetry (Basic Art)
Ingo F Walther
Buy on Amazon
My Life: Marc Chagall (Peter Owen Modern Classic)
Marc Chagall
Buy on Amazon
Marc Chagall (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)
Mike Venezia
Buy on Amazon