"Above the City" by Marc Chagall. About the happiest picture. Marc Chagall - biography, information, personal life

Marc Chagall

Jewish painter, graphic artist, sculptor, monumentalist, one of the founders of the artistic avant-garde of the 20th century.

Chagall's fate is inextricably linked with two cities - Belarusian Vitebsk, where he was a native, and Paris, where Marc established himself as a painter.

Experts attribute Chagall's creativity to the Parisian school. contemporary art. In his work, Chagall managed to combine the ancient traditions of Jewish culture and modern innovation. create your own unique style.

He lived a long, bright, eventful life, in which there was everything - exile, great love, and extraordinary success.

Marc Chagall - “The Violinist”, 1912

There is an ancient city of Vitebsk in northwestern Belarus. At the end XVIII century by decree of Empress Catherine II, the “Pale of Settlement” was determined, which determined the places of residence of the Jewish population who had transferred to Russian Empire after the partition of Poland.

There were many Jewish poor people here. This included the Chagall family. Young Khatskel-Morduch Chagall worked as a clerk in a fish store in Peskovatiki, the Jewish district of the city. And his young wife Feige-Ite was sitting at home, expecting their first child.

On July 7, 1887, in Vitebsk or Liozno, which was located 40 kilometers from the provincial center, a boy was born into the world, who was named Moisha or Mark (this is a naturalized Russian name Chagall).

He was an obedient, focused, serious boy beyond his years. But no one yet knew that in this very simple, poor family a real genius was growing.

Mark Zakharovich was a believing boy all his life. And this is one of the important circumstances that helps us understand the secret of the success of this amazing painter, one of the best artists of our time. Even in the most difficult times he did not despair. Faith did not allow this: after all, despair is one of the sins. Everything must be accepted as the will of God. Including failures.

Chagall lived a long life - almost 98 years. And he died in 1985.

Mark's father Khatskel-Mordukh was a kind-hearted, quiet, very pious and infinitely kind man. He never punished children for anything.

Mark's mother was a woman of a different type. She was a talkative, powerful and enterprising woman. When any dangerous situation arose in the family, the indecisive father relied on the mother.

Marc Chagall – “The Dead Man”, 1908

In 1900, Mark turned 13 years old. And in the fall of the same year he was sent to the Vitebsk four-year vocational school.

Four years of study - Mark graduated from college in the spring of 1905 - did not linger particularly long in Chagall’s memory.

In early childhood, adolescence, and during his years of study at a vocational school, Mark constantly drew. No one paid attention to his abilities, considering drawing just childish fun. In addition, Mark drew unusually - he was more attracted to color combinations than shape.

In 1905, the question of the young man’s future arose “in full force.” Mark turned 17 years old.

In those years he lived in Vitebsk amazing artist Yuri Moiseevich (Yudel) Pan. A student of Repin, Peng studied for two years at the St. Petersburg Academy of Painting and returned to Vitebsk to organize an art school.

Marc Chagall also came here, to Peng’s school, in 1905. His mother brought him - the only one in big family, who appreciated the young man’s artistic abilities and believed in him.

The main problem was that you had to pay to learn painting. But my father still earned pennies. And my mother didn’t work at all. And there were 10 children in the family...

After two months of studying with the best Vitebsk artist, Mark told his parents that he had to leave the city to where “real painters” study - to St. Petersburg.

“Adam and Eve”, 1912

In the end, he was released and Mark left for St. Petersburg. At first it was very hard. He needed to live somewhere, eat something and dress somehow. Finally I managed to get a job as a retoucher for a photographer. Then - as a designer of store signs. Nothing worked out with the apartment - Mark spent the night in poorhouses for the poor, with casual acquaintances, and in the winter he was hired as a watchman at a dacha.

But all the difficulties paled in front of the main problem - going to study at an art school. Chagall's persistence was rewarded. He managed to become a student of the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts of Nicholas Roerich. Here he studied for two years.

Art teachers sincerely believed that Chagall simply... did not know how to draw.

But Chagall stubbornly went his own way and did not listen to anyone. After studying for two years at the Drawing School and saving some money, Mark entered Seidenberg’s private studio, where his teacher was the theater artist and graphic artist Mstislav Valerianovich Dobuzhinsky.

And then Chagall was faced with a lack of understanding from the teacher. Instead of diligently “copying”, the student stubbornly continued to draw his small-town landscapes and... flying people.

I had to leave Dubrovsky. In 1909, Chagall entered the private art school of Elena Nikolaevna Zvantseva. And again not for long. The same conflict between teacher and student. He adored his teachers, he just couldn’t write any other way.

Life was very, very difficult for Mark in those years. He was not even poor, but beggar.

The day he could have breakfast became a holiday.

He was constantly hungry. And the most amazing thing was that from hunger and cold, from homelessness and constant destruction, Chagall did not despair, did not let go, and did not get sick.

In the end, Chagall left his apprenticeship - soon, for financial reasons and realizing that it was not giving him anything new.

In 1908, Mark, having finally found. tolerable housing and vowing to promise the landlady prompt payment. got to work. Chagall moved on to his first professional work. It was the painting “Dead Man,” created in the neo-primitivist style.

On one of his visits home, back in 1909, Mark met the daughter of a Vitebsk jeweler, Bella Rosenfeld. Then Mark left for St. Petersburg. A correspondence began between the young people.

A year later, in 1910, they became bride and groom. But they couldn’t get married - Bella’s parents, who treated Mark very well, made him promise that their daughter would become Chagall’s wife only if he could adequately support her.

They broke up. Mark left Vitebsk and, in general, buried his dream of marrying Bella. Thank God Chagall didn’t give up on his dream, but Bella waited. And these young people had a very happy life ahead. Real great love and a wonderful family. You just had to be patient a little... Four years.

In the spring of 1911, a famous lawyer, one of the first members of the State Duma of Jewish nationality, Maxim Moiseevich Vinaver, came into an art shop on Nevsky Prospekt. Vinaver liked Chagall's paintings. The seller wanted three rubles for each painting. Then Vinaver said coldly.

“War”, 1964

Listen, my dear, I will not buy these paintings. And you won't sell them. Tomorrow at the same time, bring this Chagall here. I want to talk to him.

They met the next day. Vinaver looked at the paintings and drawings for more than an hour. Then he told the owner of the shop that he was taking everything, paid one hundred rubles and took Mark out into the street.

Don't set foot here again. And you don't need this money. I buy your paintings from you personally - five hundred rubles apiece.

Mark blinked his eyes in confusion. And when one and a half thousand rubles in banknotes were in his hands, unexpectedly for himself and Vinaver... he began to cry...

They talked for a long time, several hours. We wandered along Nevsky. Vinaver bought pies - Mark was terribly hungry. Finally Maxim Moiseevich said:

Listen, Mark. You are an artist. A great and very talented painter. And you shouldn't study here. You need to go to Paris... You will go there immediately. I'll pay...

In 1926, Chagall, who lived in Paris, learned of Vinaver's death. And he wrote: “With great sadness I will say today that my loved one, almost my father, also died with him. My father gave birth to me. and Vinaver made him an artist. Without him, I would probably be a photographer in Vitebsk and would have no idea about Paris.”

Very soon everything changed. Maxim Moiseevich, who had great connections, ensured that Chagall became a scholarship recipient of the St. Petersburg Art Academy. True, it later turned out that Vinaver sent a monthly stipend to Chagall... from own money. And Mark found out about this too late.

At first, terribly shy, Chagall refused to go to Paris. But in May 1911, Marc Chagall went to Paris.

Mark fell in love with Paris. He adored this city. I idolized, extolled, admired him. Chagall had the phrase “Paris is the second Vitebsk.”

He was simply incredibly lucky with his friends. And all thanks to the fact that Chagall himself was a wonderful person who, like a magnet, attracted the bright, talented, kind and generous.

One day in 1912, journalist Anatoly Lunacharsky came from Russia to Paris. Correspondent of the newspaper “Kyiv Mysl”. Lunacharsky became one of Chagall's friends. And then influential friends appeared in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

In 1912, Chagall sent his first Parisian paintings to the Autumn Salon in St. Petersburg. where they were exhibited together with the works of the “World of Art” group. And in 1913, Mark’s paintings were presented in Moscow at the “Target” exhibition.

“Lovers over the city.” 1918

Chagall gradually became famous painter. In four years. conducted by him in Paris. it has transformed from provincial. an unknown aspiring artist into an original and innovative painter.

Understanding and accepting Chagall's paintings requires some preparation.

During the four years of Chagall's stay in Paris, he painted... several hundred paintings. It is impossible to calculate exactly; his legacy is as colossal as that of Picasso, who created about 80 thousand works.

Chagall's amazing style, which had no name. defined by Guillaume Apollinaire. He came to Chagall's studio and sat for about an hour. Then he stood up and muttered embarrassedly: “Supernatural!” Apollinaire called Chagall's style “Surnaturalism,” that is, “supernaturalism.”

By 1914, the position of 27-year-old Marc Chagall in modern European painting became so established that he was already called the founder of “new expressionism.” He was no longer as poor as four years ago.

Ahead was a grandiose and extremely important event for Chagall. His first personal exhibition was planned for June 1914 in Berlin.

The exhibition barely opened, giving Chagall many pleasant and exciting experiences. He was getting ready to go to Vitebsk - his younger sister was getting married.

Mark Zakharovich was going to Vitebsk no more than until the end of the summer. Two months and that's it. And then back to Berlin to pick up the exhibition works. Then to Paris to work and work. Could he have known that his “date with Vitebsk” would drag on for 10 years? Hardly...

In Vitebsk he met Bella. It turned out that she had been waiting for him these four years. Now Chagall was no longer poor, and his daughter-in-law’s parents looked at Chagall differently. It took another year for the wedding to be discussed. In August 1914, the wedding of Mark's sister took place. And then the war began.

No one in Russia would stand on ceremony with a Jewish artist. In 1915, Chagall received a summons. But he was able to get a “white ticket”, release from the front and a solution to all his problems. I had to leave my house in Vitebsk and move to Petrograd.

But before that, on July 25, 1915, in Vitebsk, in the parental home of Mark Zakharovich, a wedding took place with Bello. And this, despite the raging war, was the happiest day in the artist’s life.

God gave them a luxurious gift - he gave them great love. For life, until death, forever.

All his life, no matter where Mark’s fate took him, Bella was always there.

After Bella, he had love, and another one, also very happy. marriage. But only Bella remained in his memory.

“Flying carriage.” 1913

Bella Rosenfeld was a beautiful woman. Bella became Chagall's main model, his muse, his inspiration. When she suddenly died - this happened in the fateful year for Chagall - 1944 - he was so crushed that he decided to leave the profession. But he didn’t leave and thereby preserved the memory of Bella.

In the summer of 1916, a year after the wedding, Bella gave Mark a daughter, who was named Ida.

In August 1918, Mark and his friends opened an art school in Vitebsk. then the museum. I found and recruited the young avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich to work.

For two years Chagall was in office and had full power. Mark was “displaced” by his colleague, the artist Malevich, from whom Chagall never expected anything like this.

Malevich accused Chagall's work of being “not revolutionary enough.” Mol, Chagall is still “playing” with images. Malevich went to Moscow, from there he brought documents stating that he would be in charge.

And Chagall was just tired. In a few days he handed over his affairs, packed his things, his daughter, and together with Bella... left Vitebsk. As it turned out, forever.

In 1920, the Chagall family moved to Moscow. Chagall immediately received an order from the Jewish Chamber Theater. They paid little money. There were no large orders. Chagall did not like all this, and he decided to leave Moscow.

A free place was found in Malakhovka, near Moscow, in a children's colony for street children. Chagall went there too. Whole academic year he was working a simple teacher drawing. Chagall considered the only advantage of his position to be the huge, bright workshop provided to him by the school management.

Meanwhile, in Russia he was well known and appreciated. Small exhibitions of his works opened one after another - in Petrograd, his native Vitebsk, Moscow

At the end of the spring of 1922, Chagall clearly understood that in the country that was his homeland, no one needed him.

Chagall decided to leave the country forever. Russia is not his country. He decided to ask the authorities to let him go to the West, the formal reason being to clarify the fate of the paintings remaining in Berlin and Paris.

In June 1922, Marc Chagall, Bella and Ida boarded an international train that was supposed to take them to the Baltic states.

They did not stay long in Canus. his paintings already belonged to private owners.

“Big Circus”

In Berlin, only ten paintings were returned, and in Paris, it seems, not a single one remained. Having sold two paintings, Chagall took up... his studies. 35 years old, already a recognized master, Chagall studied again - this time a new technique. By the end of 1922, he had mastered the techniques of etching, drypoint and woodcut. I finished the brilliant book “My Life”.

The money was running out. Then an invitation was sent to him from Paris from Ambroise Vollard. He was embarrassed to say that he did not have a penny to come to Paris. But Ambroise sent him several hundred francs. He immediately packed his things. In September 1923, they boarded the Berlin-Paris train and left Germany.

Ahead was the city that Chagall idolized.

And everything worked out right away. Vollard, the guardian angel of many talents, a generous patron of the arts and a real shark of the painting market, did everything as promised. The Chagalls rented a nice apartment in the center of Paris. Paid generous allowances. I bought several paintings - paying more than Mark had calculated. And he provided a great one. interesting, rewarding job...

At this time, Vollard decided to publish Gogol’s “Dead Souls”, and it was not easy to publish good edition, but luxurious, expensive, richly illustrated. And the illustrations should have been done by Chagall.

It took Chagall 4 years to create the illustrations. The book was completed only in 1927, published by Ambroise and created a real sensation.

The success was so convincing that in the same 1927, Vollard ordered Chagall to illustrate another book – “Fables” by La Fontaine. This work took another 3 years - the book was ready in 1930.

By 1931, Chagall’s “personal library”—books decorated with his drawings and etchings—consisted of dozens of titles. And Ambroise Vollard conceived a grandiose project, on which he had high hopes. Namely, an edition of the Bible with illustrations by Marc Chagall..

This order both delighted and frightened the artist. Well, who is he to take on the task of illustrating the Book of Books? Putting aside many things, Mark and his family gathered in long journey. He had to visit biblical places - Syria, Egypt and Palestine.

From this months-long journey, another Marc Chagall returned to France.

Only for the first nine years of work on the illustration. to the Bible - from 1930 to 1939 - Chagall created 66 etchings. And in 1952-1956 he supplemented them with another 39 etchings.

Hundreds of works on religious themes. Illustrated Bible published by Vollard. His own reflections on the essence of existence and the fate of his ancient people - all this ultimately became part of a grandiose collection of Chagall’s works. which he called “The Bible Message.”

Having begun this great work in the 30s, Chagall returned to it several times in the future. And then, in 1931, having returned from Palestine, he did not rush to the easel, but continued his journey through Europe.

To Vollard's questions, he replied that his impressions were so strong that they needed to be experienced. And Chagall and Bella traveled all over the Mediterranean. Türkiye, Greece, Balkans, Spain...

Formally, Chagall remained a citizen of Soviet Russia - already the USSR in the Thirties.

Russia wanted to return it, and in the end Chagall decided to put all the emphasis on it. He wrote a statement addressed to the President of France asking for French citizenship. In 1937, Marc, Bella and Ida Chagall became French citizens.

In the 30s, the fame of Marc Chagall reached its apogee. He was famous. And not just famous, but famous all over the world. His paintings sold for huge sums of money. He wasn't rich enough to buy a villa or anything like that, but he didn't need money. Chagall saved a lot of money after the war, becoming one of the richest artists of the 20th century and ahead of Picasso himself in this.

“Walk”, 1917

By the early 1930s, Chagall's style was completely established. Experts defined his style of artistic writing as surreal-expressionist.

And then fatal changes took place in the life of old Europe; the Nazis came to power in Germany. And Chagall, who had demonstratively shunned politics since 1922, suddenly found himself drawn into a dirty story started by the fascists. In 1933, by order of the Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany, 50 paintings by Chagall were removed from museums and galleries. And by order they were burned at the stake in Mannheim, as an example of “degenerate Jewish art.”

Chagall fell into real depression. And he was treated for it, as always happened with him, through hard work. One after another, he created canvases imbued with apocalyptic forebodings.

Marc Chagall – “White Crucifix”, 1938

On July 6, 1939, Chagall celebrated his 52nd birthday. The date is not round, but still Mark Zakharovich invited his friends. Vollard also arrived. I drank wine with Chagall... This was their last meeting.

Paris was occupied by the Germans. The new French authorities had just passed a law - all Jews were automatically deprived of French citizenship. They packed their things and drove to the Spanish border. Ida stayed in Paris to resolve the issue with her father’s paintings, and after a few days go after them.

The Spaniards did not allow Jews into the territory of their country, even for temporary residence. But Jewish refugees were freely allowed into Portugal.

In Spain, friends helped Chagall and his wife travel to the Portuguese border. And then Mark and Bella ended up in Lisbon. There was a surprise waiting here - Ida arrived from Paris in a small old truck. And she brought... Chagall's archive: paintings, drawings, sketches and documents.

In Lisbon, everything was much worse than Chagall imagined. They lined up outside the American Embassy. Daughter Ida made her way to the consul’s reception and said that the great artist Chagall was in the crowd on the street.

A few days later an invitation came from the management of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Officially, as a refugee from the Nazi regime.

In mid-June 1941, the Chagall Family boarded an American liner.

from “The Bible Message”

In New York, Chagall worked primarily as a theater designer at the Metropolitan.

On a September morning in 1944, Chagall entered the bedroom. It was quiet and he walked over to Bella. She died in her sleep.

He sobbed and sobbed. In a matter of hours, Chagall's head turned gray. The scale of the loss was simply incomprehensible.

The daughter did everything for her father to return to this world. Chagall could not forget his wife.

Ida even found for her father... a replacement for her deceased mother. Soon a young housekeeper appeared in the house. It was Virginia.

Their love story, told many years later by Virginia in her book published in 1986, a year after Chagall's death, shows Marc in a slightly different light.

Virginia was burdened by the position of a “married mistress.” But, having lived with Chagall for 7 years, she never spoke about marriage.

In 1946, Chagall and Virginia Haggard had a boy, who was named David - in honor of Chagall's younger brother who died in his youth.

Until 1952, Chagall willingly tinkered with his son and took a direct part in his upbringing. And then it was all over. In 1952, Marc Chagall married for the second time, and his wife Valentina Brodetskaya immediately began a real war with Virginia.

Immediately after the end of the war, Chagall and Ida traveled to France several times. In 1947, Chagall and Ida attended the opening of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, where Chagall's paintings were exhibited, among others.

In 1948, at the insistence of Ida, the Chagalls moved to France. The return to France was triumphant. Chagall has already been openly attacked the best artist modernity and national treasure France.

Not far from Nice. Chagall chose a villa called “Colline”. I bought it in 1966. Mark Zakharovich spent the rest of his life in this house. This is where he ended his days.

In the spring of 1952, Ida brought together the owner of a London fashion salon and the daughter of the famous manufacturer Valentina Grigorievna Brodetskaya with her father. Valentina and Mark were separated by a 25-year age difference: Chagall was 65, Brodetskaya was 40. A whirlwind romance began between them. A month later, Valentita sold the London business and moved to Nice. And on July 12, 1952, a week after celebrating Chagall’s birthday, Mark and Valentina became husband and wife.

For Chagall, this marriage, which became the last in his life, was very happy.

Age changes everyone. He was not simple. A special theme is Chagall’s stinginess. In his youth, this man could give his last to his friends. And in mature years Having become a millionaire, he could spare money even for himself.

Back then, his paintings were sold very expensive. Rarely has a Chagall painting sold for less than $1 million.

Chagall has been called “the most Jewish artist of the 20th century.” The religious theme in his work is decisive and even the main one. Chagall visited Israel both before and after the revival of this country.

The first Chagall came to Tel Aviv in 1931.

Chagall's second visit to this city took place 20 years later - in 1951. He again visited the Tel Aviv Museum and donated several paintings.

In 1957, Chagall received a large order from the Savoyard Chapel in Assy and the Cathedral in Metz for large panels and stained glass windows. Here he created almost 1200 square meters wonderful stained glass windows on a biblical theme.

Since 1957, Chagall finally moved away from easel painting and took up applied art. He didn't feel his age at all. In 1957, Chagall turned 70 years old, and he worked as if he was 30 years old.

In 1961, Chagall received a new order - from Israel. He was invited to create a stained glass window for the synagogue of the medical faculty of the Hebrew University near Jerusalem. He stayed here with his faithful Charles Marc for about a year.

In 1977, the Chagall Museum opened in Nice.

“Exodus”, 1952

The most famous mosaics, ceramic panels and stained glass. created by Chagall in the last years of his life, are located in Europe. In 1969, Chagall received an order from Zurich to create stained glass windows for the Fraumünster church. The work took a year and a half; in 1970, the decoration of the church was completed.

This was followed by an order from Reims - in 1974, Chagall designed stained glass windows for the local cathedral.

In 1976 he went to Mainz, where he created stained glass and panels for the Church of St. Stephen. This work lasted until 1981... Dozens of orders!

During his work in Mainz he was already over... 90 years old!

In 1963, President Charles de Gaulle visited Chagall's house in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Chagall was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Paris Grand Opera.

A year later, in 1964, the Grand Opera received a new ceiling. And President de Gaulle received an autographed painting from Chagall himself.

Two years later, a similar order came from New York - Chagall was offered to create a panel for the Metropolitan Opera. And in 1966, Chagall and his wife moved to America for several months.

In June 1973, he went on a big and very exciting trip for him - to Moscow and Leningrad.

An exhibition of Chagall’s works was organized in Moscow at the Tretyakov Gallery.

They literally rushed around with him as if he were the highest-ranking guest who could ever visit Russia. He was recognized everywhere, even on the streets. He was surprised. People walked past him calmly in Paris and New York. In Nice, he had to stand in a general queue for ice cream. And here...

On July 6, 1973, on the artist’s 86th birthday, a museum dedicated to him opened in Nice. After the memorable year of 1973, Chagall acquired not only the status of the patriarch of French painting, but also a living national treasure.

In 1977, France and the entire art world celebrated Marc Chagall's 90th birthday. On his birthday, Chagall was awarded France's highest award, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. This was the reward of kings and marshals. The award was presented by French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

He died on the evening of March 28, 1985. Quiet and calm. In the elevator, while he was being taken up to the second floor, to the workshop.

Source – Nikola Nadezhdin “Informal biographies”. Our friendly team advises everyone to read books by this author.

In 1887, on July 7, the future world-class artist Marc Chagall was born, whose paintings throughout the 20th century caused consternation and delight among visitors to numerous vernissages at which the paintings of the famous avant-garde artist were exhibited.

The beginning of a creative journey

Moisha’s childhood, as his parents initially named him, was spent in the city of Vitebsk. The boy's father worked as a loader at a fish market, his mother ran a small shop, and his grandfather was a cantor in a Jewish synagogue. After graduating from a religious Jewish school, Moishe entered the gymnasium, although in Tsarist Russia Jews were not allowed to attend Russian educational institutions. Of course, it was difficult to study in an illegal position. After studying for several years, he left the gymnasium and became a volunteer student at the School of Drawing and Painting of the Artist Peng. Two months later, Mr. Pan, amazed by the young man’s talent, offered him free education at his school.

The young artist redrew all his relatives in turn, then began to paint portraits. This is how the bright, original painter Marc Chagall appeared in the world of art, whose paintings would soon be bought by the best. A pseudonym, or rather a new name, he came up with for himself. Moishe became Mark, and Chagall is a modified Segal, from his father’s surname.

Northern capital

Twenty-year-old Mark decided not to sit still and soon went to St. Petersburg, hoping to continue his painting studies there. He had no money, and besides, the discriminatory policy of the Russian state towards Jews was making itself felt. I had to live in the northern capital on the brink of poverty, getting by with odd jobs. However, Chagall did not lose heart; he was happy to find himself in the whirlpool of the artistic life of St. Petersburg. Gradually, he formed a circle of useful acquaintances among the Jewish elite, and new friends began to help the young artist.

Marc Chagall, whose paintings immediately began to be seen as harbingers of a new surreal style, tried to develop his individuality and did not follow the generally accepted canons of painting. And, as shown later life, he chose the right path. IN early works As for the artist, the fantastic fabulousness of the plot and the metaphorical nature of the images were already visible. Everything that Marc Chagall wrote in that period, paintings with titles: " Holy family", "Death", "Birth" - are striking examples of an unusual style. Moreover, the last theme, the birth of a baby, was reflected in Chagall’s work several times, in different interpretations. However, in all cases, the woman in labor was depicted with a small drawing, which in size inferior to other characters, men, goats, horses who were around. However, this is the phenomenon of Marc Chagall’s work, he knew how to arrange microscopic details so that they suddenly began to dominate the general background. A tired woman in labor and a midwife with a newborn in her arms. Something incomprehensible became the center of the picture.

Meeting Lev Bakst

While in St. Petersburg, Marc Chagall, whose paintings attracted increasing attention from the secular public, continued his studies at the Seidenberg private art school, while simultaneously performing simple work in the Jewish magazine "Voskhod" to provide food. Later he met with a teacher at Zvantseva’s school, who played a decisive role in the artist’s fate. Chagall also attended lectures by the painter Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, who attracted him as a champion of everything new in art.

In the spring of 1910, Marc Chagall made his debut - his paintings participated in the vernissage, which was organized by the editors of the Apollo magazine. And shortly before this event, the artist met the woman of his life, Bella Rosenfeld. The love between them flared up instantly, and happy times continued for both from the day the young people got married and began to live together. In 1916, the couple had a daughter, who was named Ida.

Moving to Paris

In the summer of 1910, deputy Maxim Vinaver, a philanthropist and a great admirer of the fine arts, offered Chagall a scholarship that enabled him to study in Paris. The capital of France greeted Mark warmly, he became close to the artist Ehrenburg and, with his assistance, rented a studio in Montparnasse. Chagall writes at night, and in daytime disappears in galleries, salons and exhibitions, absorbing everything connected with the great art of painting.

The masters of the early 20th century became an example for the young artist. The great Cezanne, Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Delacroix - the enthusiastic Chagall tries to adopt something from each of them. His mentor in St. Petersburg, Lev Bakst, once looked at his student’s Paris drawings and confidently declared that “now all the colors are singing.” The paintings of Marc Chagall, photos of which are presented on the page, fully confirm the teacher’s opinion.

Creative refuge

Soon Chagall moved to the "Beehive", a kind of Parisian art center that became a haven for poor visiting artists. Here Mark meets poets, writers, painters and other representatives of the bohemians of the French capital. All those works that Marc Chagall wrote in the “Beehive” (paintings with titles: “The Violinist”, “Calvary”, “Dedication to My Bride”, “View of Paris from the Window”) became his " business card"However, despite complete assimilation with the Parisian creative environment, the artist does not forget about his native Vitebsk and paints the following paintings: “Cattle Seller”, “Me and the Village”, “Snuff”.

Early creativity

One of the most memorable paintings is “Window. Vitebsk”, painted in the style of “naive art” or “primitivism”, which Marc Chagall followed in the early period of his work. "Window. Vitebsk" was created in 1908, when the artist was just beginning to master the wisdom of the "primitive style".

Over the several years spent in Paris, Marc Chagall painted about thirty paintings and more than 150. He took all the works to Berlin for art exhibition 1914, which became his main benefit in the art world. The public was delighted with Chagall's paintings. From Berlin, the artist was going to go to his native Vitebsk to see Bella, but the sudden outbreak of the First World War prevented him.

The further fate of the artist

Marc Zakharovich Chagall, whose paintings have already become widely known, was exempt from military conscription. Friends helped him get a position in the Military-Industrial Department of St. Petersburg, and for some time the artist was provided with housing and work. Chagall's paintings during this turbulent time were especially action-packed and realistic. “War”, “Window in the Village”, “Feast of Tabernacles”, “Red Jew” - these are just a few of the paintings that were created during the war. Separately, the artist created a lyrical series of paintings: “Walk”, “Pink Lovers”, “Birthday”, “Bella in a White Collar”. These paintings represent only a small part of his extensive series of works from the First World War.

"Walk"

One of the most famous works artist, created by him in 1918. Post-revolutionary sentiments, faith in a happy future, the romance of young love - all this is reflected on the canvas. Disappointment in the new social values ​​of the country of the Soviets had not yet set in, although it was just around the corner. Nevertheless, one of the most faithful followers of the new ideals of the time was the artist Marc Chagall. “The Walk” is an optimistic picture, full of bright hopes; the characters do not think about the negative. The woman depicted on the canvas hovers above reality, the young man is also ready to get off the ground.

Works by Chagall 1917-1918

The artist was inspired by the revolutionary events that took place in Petrograd. He, like many representatives of the intelligentsia of the Northern capital, felt the fresh wind of change and believed in their infallibility. St. Petersburg artists, writers, composers began to promote new image life, and one of the first in the ranks of enthusiasts advocating for the equality of all people was Marc Chagall. The paintings “Above the City”, “War on Palaces - Peace on Huts” and many other paintings of that period reflect the artist’s desire to create.

Bella and a bouquet of flowers

A special place in the artist’s work is occupied by a painting dedicated to his beloved wife, who once brought him a bouquet of flowers to congratulate him on his birthday. Without wasting a second, he rushed to the easel. Touched to the depths of his soul, the artist tried to capture beautiful moments on canvas. This was all Marc Chagall. “Birthday” is a painting created in a matter of minutes in the form of a sketch, and then finalized. It became one of the best in the artist’s collection. As he himself stated, inspiration comes for a few minutes, it is important not to miss it.

Responsible position

In 1918, Mark Zakharovich Chagall, whose paintings were already considered the property of the Vitebsk province, became the Commissioner for Arts of the local executive committee. The artist showed extraordinary organizational skills; he decorated Vitebsk for the anniversary October Revolution various banners, flags and banners. "Art to the masses!" - that was his slogan.

In 1920, Marc Chagall moved to Moscow with Bella and little Ida, where he began working in the field of the theater community. In the process of creating scenery for performances, Chagall radically revised his creative methods, trying to get closer to the “revolutionary” new style in painting. Party bodies made several attempts to attract the artist to their side, but since Chagall was already a recognized world-class master of brushwork, these attempts were not successful.

Confrontation

The tension that arose between the freedom-loving artist and the communist leadership soon grew into open confrontation, and Marc Chagall left the country of the Soviets with his family.

Berlin became the first European city in which Mark, Bella and little Ida settled. The artist’s attempts to get money for the 1914 exhibition ended in nothing; most of the paintings disappeared. Only three canvases and a dozen watercolor drawings were returned to Chagall.

In the summer of 1923, Mark receives a letter from Paris from his old friend, who invites him to come to the capital of France. Chagall travels, and another disappointment awaits him there - the paintings that he once left in the Hive have also disappeared. However, the artist does not lose heart; he begins to paint his masterpieces again. In addition, Marc Chagall receives an offer from a major publishing house to illustrate books. He begins work with the story “Dead Souls” by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and copes with the task superbly.

Family trips

Chagall's financial situation has strengthened, and he and his family begin to travel around European countries. And in between voyages, the artist paints his immortal canvases, which become increasingly lighter and lighter: “Double Portrait”, “Ida at the Window”, “Village Life”. In addition to paintings, Chagall illustrates the edition of La Fontaine's Fables.

In 1931, Marc Chagall visits Palestine, he wants to experience the land of his ancestors. The several months that the artist spent in the Holy Land forced him to change his attitude towards life. Bella and daughter Ida, who were nearby, facilitated this. Returning to Paris, Chagall was engaged only in biblical illustrations.

Moving to America

At the end of the thirties, fleeing the German Nazis, the Chagall family emigrated to the United States. And again - working with theatrical scenery, this time at the Russian Ballet. then he rejected Chagall’s works and gave preference to Picasso’s sketches, but the theatrical costumes by Mark were accepted.

The war in Europe is in full swing, although it is already clear that it is being defeated. In the summer of 1944, good news comes - Hitler is on the verge of surrender. And at the end of August, misfortune overtakes Marc Chagall; Bella unexpectedly dies of sepsis in the hospital. The artist loses the meaning of life from grief, but his daughter Ida supports him and helps him survive. Only nine months later did Chagall pick up his brushes. Now he finds salvation in work, painting both day and night. The artist’s creative impulses helped him survive the acuteness of his loss.

Marc Chagall, outstanding artist XX century, born on July 6, 1887 in Vitebsk, within the boundaries of the Pale of Settlement, which were determined by Catherine II for the compact residence of Jews. He was the ninth child in the family.

The artist’s father Khatskel (Zakhar) Morduch worked as a loader in a herring merchant’s shop. He was a deeply religious man, quiet and kind. Feiga's mother Ita, the daughter of a butcher from Liozno, unlike her husband, was a talkative, cheerful and active woman. Chagall, in his character and creativity, combined features of both his father and mother.

Marc Chagall was born Moishe Chagall, or in Russian transcription Movsha Khatskelevich Shagalov. Real name families - Segal; according to Chagall’s memoirs, it was changed to “Chagall” by the artist’s father. In 1906, Mark entered the I. Pan School of Drawing and Painting in Vitebsk, and at the same time worked as a retoucher in a photo studio.

In 1907, Mark left for St. Petersburg, received temporary permission to stay there and entered the Drawing School of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, headed by Nicholas Roerich. He worked as a tutor in a lawyer's family to earn money and as an apprentice in a sign workshop to obtain a craftsman's certificate, which gave him the right to live in the capital. In 1908, Chagall moved to the art school of E. N. Zvantseva, where he studied with L. Bakst and M. Dobuzhinsky.

In 1910, leaving for Paris for the first time, he was angry with his father:

- Listen, you have an adult son, an artist. When will you stop beating yourself up like hell at your boss? You see, I didn’t die in St. Petersburg? Do I have enough for cutlets? Well, what will happen to me in Paris?

- Leave work? - the father was indignant. - Who will feed me? Isn't it you? Well, we know.

Mom clutched her heart:

- Son, don’t forget your father and mother. Write more often. Ask for what you need.

In 1910, Chagall first participated in an exhibition of student works in the editorial office of the Apollo magazine. In the same year, thanks to member of the State Duma M. Vinaver, who bought paintings from him and assigned him a salary for the period of study, Chagall left for Paris. He rented a studio in the famous refuge of Parisian bohemia “La Ruche” (“The Beehive”), where in those years many young avant-garde artists, mostly emigrants, lived and worked: A. Modigliani, O. Zadkine, a little later - H. Soutine and others . Chagall quickly entered the circle of the Parisian literary and artistic avant-garde.

There Chagall met the avant-garde poets Blaise Center, Max Jacob and Guillaume Appolinaire, the expressionist Sotin, the colorist Delaunay and the cubist Jean Metzinger. Such a company was fertile ground for the development of any direction in art.

It was then that Chagall began to demonstrate and develop his unique artistic technique, the beginnings of which appeared back in St. Petersburg. During those four years in Paris, Chagall wrote “Me and the Village” (1911), “Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers” (1912), “The Violinist” (1912), etc. His paintings often featured discreet, pleasant-looking heroes with an oriental type of face and curly hair, in which it is easy to recognize the author.

In 1911-13 his works were exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, and at the Der Sturm gallery in Berlin.

In addition, Chagall took part in exhibitions of art associations in Russia. In 1914, with the assistance of G. Apollinaire, the first personal exhibition of Chagall was held at the Der Sturm gallery. After its opening, Chagall left for Vitebsk; due to the outbreak of the First World War, he was unable, as expected, to return to Paris and remained in Russia until 1922.

In 1915, Chagall married Bella Rosenfeld, the daughter of a famous Vitebsk jeweler, who played a huge role in his life and work; Chagall himself considered her his muse. Bella also became a frequent heroine of his paintings, such as “Double Portrait with a Glass of Wine” (1917) and “Birthday” (1915-1923).

Bella’s mother was extremely dissatisfied with her daughter’s choice: “You will be lost with him, daughter, you will be lost for nothing. Artist! Where is this good? What will people say?

Bella and Mark spent honeymoon in the rural heavenly silence. “At noon our room looked like a magnificent panel - you could even display it in Paris now.” Then the First World War broke out. Chagall's passport was taken away and he was put as a clerk in some military office.

“The Germans won their first victories. Choking gases reached me even at work, on Liteiny Prospekt. Painting has died out." Having learned that a pogrom was going on somewhere in the center, Chagall ran there. He had to see it with his own eyes.

“Suddenly, from around the corner, right in front of me, thugs appear - four or five, armed to the teeth. - Jew? - I hesitated for a second, no more. It’s night, I have nothing to pay off with, I can’t fight back or escape. My death would be meaningless. I wanted to live...” He was released. Without wasting time, he ran further to the center. And I saw everything: how they were shooting, how they were robbing, how they were throwing people into the river. “And then,” he writes, “ice moved over Russia. Madame Kerensky fled. Lenin made a speech from the balcony. The distances are gaping. Huge and empty. There is no bread."

He and Bella had a daughter, Idochka. There was nothing to eat. For several years they rushed between Vitebsk, Petrograd and Moscow. Everything was taken away from the wife's parents. They took my mother-in-law. Mom died. My father was run over by a truck. My wife exchanged the last rings for a piece of butter.

He was offered to teach at a children's colony named after the Third International. There were about fifty orphans there. “They were all street children, beaten by criminals, who remembered the shine of the knife with which their parents were stabbed, who never forgot the dying groans of their father and mother. Before their eyes, the bellies of raped sisters were ripped open. And so I taught them how to draw. How greedily they drew! They pounced on the paints like animals on meat. Barefoot, they shouted with each other: “Comrade Chagall! Comrade Chagall! Only their eyes didn’t smile at all: they didn’t want to or couldn’t.”

Chagall maintained relations with artists and poets who lived in Petrograd, participated in exhibitions (“Jack of Diamonds”, 1916, Moscow; “Spring Exhibition of Contemporary Russian Painting”, 1916, St. Petersburg; “Exhibition of the Jewish Society for the Encouragement of Arts”, 1916, Moscow, and others ).

In 1917, Chagall again left for Vitebsk. Like many other artists, he enthusiastically accepted the October Revolution, and was actively involved in organizing a new cultural life Russia. In 1918, Chagall became the commissar of arts of the provincial department of Naroobraz of Vitebsk and in the same year developed a project for a grandiose festive decoration of the streets and squares of Vitebsk in connection with the anniversary of the October Revolution. At the beginning of 1919, he organized and headed the Vitebsk People's Art School, where he invited I. Pan, M. Dobuzhinsky, I. Puni, E. Lisitsky, K. Malevich and other artists as teachers.

However, soon fundamental disagreements arose between him and Malevich regarding the tasks of art and teaching methods. Malevich believed that Chagall was not “revolutionary” enough. These disagreements grew into open conflict, and at the beginning of 1920, Chagall left school and went to Moscow with his wife and daughter, where, before leaving for the West in 1922, he worked at the Jewish Chamber Theater, whose director was A. Granovsky. Over the years, Chagall designed the play “The Evening of Shalom Aleichem” based on his one-act plays “Agentn” (“Agents”), “Mazltov!” (“Congratulations!”) and created several picturesque panels for the theater foyer. Chagall also collaborated with the Habima Theater, which at that time was headed by E. Vakhtangov.

In 1921, Chagall taught painting at a Jewish orphanage-colony for street children named after the Third International in Malakhovka, not far from Moscow. He continued to participate in exhibitions in 1921-22. took an active part in artistic life - he was a member of the Art Section of the Cultural League in Moscow (a joint exhibition with N. Alterman and D. Shterenberg, organized by the section, took place in the spring of 1922 in Moscow). Chagall also held two personal exhibitions (1919, Petrograd and 1921, Moscow).

In 1922, Chagall finally decided to leave Russia and went first to Kaunas to organize his exhibition, and then to Berlin, where, at the request of the publisher P. Cassirer, he completed a series of etchings and engravings for the autobiographical book “My Life” (an album of engravings without text was published in Berlin in 1923; the first edition of the text “My Life” appeared in Yiddish in the magazine “Tsukunft”, March-June 1925; the text of the book “My Life”, illustrated with early drawings, was published in Paris in 1931 in Russian; French, M., 1994).

At the end of 1923, Chagall settled in Paris, where he met many avant-garde poets and artists - P. Eluard, A. Malraux, M. Ernst, as well as A. Vollard, a philanthropist and publisher, who ordered him illustrations, including Bible.

Starting to work on biblical drawings, Chagall went to the Middle East in 1931. At the invitation of M. Dizengoff, Chagall visited Eretz Israel; During the trip, he worked a lot and wrote a significant number of sketches of “biblical” landscapes. Then he visited Egypt. In 1924 he participated in the almanac “Halyastra”, published by P. Markish.

In the 1920-30s. Chagall traveled in connection with personal exhibitions (1922, Berlin; 1924, Brussels and Paris; 1926, New York; 1930s, Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, Prague and others), and also studied classical art. In 1933, his retrospective exhibition was opened in Basel. In the same year, in Mannheim, on the orders of Goebbels, a public burning of Chagall’s works was organized, and in 1937-39. his works were exhibited at “Degenerate Art” exhibitions in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and other German cities.

In 1937, Chagall took French citizenship. At the beginning of World War II, due to the occupation of France, Chagall and his family left Paris for the south of the country; in June 1941, the day after Germany attacked the Soviet Union, he moved to New York at the invitation of the Museum of Modern Art.

Many personal and retrospective exhibitions of Chagall were held in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. In 1942, Chagall designed the ballet “Aleko” to the music of P. Tchaikovsky in Mexico City, and in 1945, “The Firebird” by I. Stravinsky at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Chagall's wife Bella died in 1944. For a long time Marc Chagall could not bring himself to pick up a brush; all the work he had started in the workshop was placed facing the wall. Only after a year of silence did Chagall return to work.

After the end of the war, in 1947, Marc Chagall returned to France and settled in the Villa “Hill” near the city of Saint-Paul-de-Vence on the Cote d'Azur of the Mediterranean Sea.

Bella's memoirs, Burning Candles, with illustrations by Chagall, were published posthumously in 1946. In the same year, a retrospective exhibition of Chagall took place in New York, and in 1947, for the first time after the war, in Paris; it was followed by exhibitions in Amsterdam, London and other European cities. In 1948, Chagall returned to France and settled near Paris. In 1952 he married Valentina Brodskaya. In 1948, at the 24th Venice Biennale, Chagall was awarded the Grand Prix for his engraving.

In 1951, Chagall visited Israel in connection with the opening of his retrospective exhibition at the museum at the Bezalel School in Jerusalem, and also visited Tel Aviv and Haifa. In 1977, Chagall was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Jerusalem.

Since the 1950s Chagall worked primarily as a muralist and graphic artist. In 1950 he began working in ceramics, in 1951 he made his first sculptural works, from 1957 he worked on stained glass, and from 1964 on mosaics and tapestries. Chagall created frescoes for the foyer of the Watergate Theater in London (1949), the ceramic panel “Crossing the Red Sea” and stained glass for the church in Assy (1957), stained glass for the cathedrals in Metz, Reims and Zurich (1958-60), stained glass “ The Twelve Tribes of Israel" for the synagogue of the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem (1960-62), the ceiling at the Grand Opera in Paris (1964), mosaic panels for the UN building (1964) and the Metropolitan Opera (1966) in New York, and others.

In 1967, the Louvre hosted an exhibition of Chagall’s works, united in the cycle “Biblical Images”. In 1973, the National Museum “Biblical Images of Marc Chagall”, founded in 1969, was opened in Nice. Also in 1973, Chagall visited Russia (Leningrad and Moscow) for the first time after emigration, where an exhibition of his lithographs was opened for the artist’s arrival, and wall panels made in 1920 for the foyer of the Jewish Chamber Theater and considered lost were also removed from storage and restored. . Chagall confirmed the authenticity of the panels by signing them. Since the 1950s The largest galleries and exhibition halls in the world hosted exhibitions of Chagall's works, retrospective or dedicated to a particular topic or genre. Chagall's works are in largest museums peace.

Chagall's painting system was formed under the influence various factors, paradoxically, but organically rethought and forming a single whole. In addition to Russian art (including icon painting and primitive art) and French art beginning of the 20th century, one of the defining elements of this system is Chagall’s sense of self, which for him is inextricably linked with his vocation. “If I were not a Jew, as I understand it, I would not be an artist or would be a completely different artist,” he formulated his position in one of his essays. From his first teacher I. Peng, Chagall adopted the idea of ​​a national artist; the national temperament found expression in the peculiarities of his figurative structure. Firstly independent work Chagall clearly demonstrates the visionary nature of his work: reality, transformed by the artist’s imagination, acquires the features of a fantastic vision. However, all surreal images - violinists on the roof, green cows, heads separated from their bodies, people flying in the sky - are not the arbitrariness of unbridled imagination, they contain a clear logic, a specific “message”. Chagall's artistic techniques are based on the visualization of Yiddish sayings and the embodiment of images of Jewish folklore. Chagall introduces elements of Jewish interpretation even into the depiction of Christian subjects (The Holy Family, 1910, Chagall Museum; Homage to Christ / Calvary /, 1912, Museum of Modern Art, New York) - a principle to which he remained faithful to the end life.

In the first years of his creative work, the setting of his works is Vitebsk - a street, a square, a house (“The Dead”, 1908, Center Pompidou, Paris). During this period, the landscapes of Vitebsk and scenes from the life of the community contain features of the grotesque. They are reminiscent of theatrical mise-en-scenes, subordinated to a precisely calibrated rhythm. The color scheme of early works is mainly based on green and brown tones with the presence of purple; the format of the paintings approaches a square (“Shabbat”, 1910, Museum Ludwig, Cologne).

The first period of his stay in Paris (1910-14) played an important role in Chagall’s work: the artist came into contact with new artistic directions, of which Cubism and Futurism had a direct influence on him; to an even greater extent we can talk about the influence of the atmosphere of artistic Paris of those years. It was during these years and in the “Russian period” that followed that the basic principles of Chagall’s art were formed, running through all of his work, and constant symbolic types and characters were determined. There are few purely cubist or purely futuristic works by Chagall, although they can be found throughout the 1910s. (“Adam and Eve”, 1912, Art Museum, St. Louis, USA). Chagall's style of this time can be defined rather as cubo-futurist, which was one of the important trends in avant-garde art in Russia. Sharp ratios of yellow, red, blue, green and violet form the basis of Chagall's color scheme; they are often combined with black, sometimes making up the background.

The subsequent “Russian period” (1914-22) was a time of generalization of accumulated experience. Chagall's themes and style are varied - from sketches of Vitebsk and portraits of loved ones to symbolic compositions ("Mother on the Sofa", 1914, private collection; "Reclining Poet", 1915, Tate Gallery, London; "Above the City", 1914-18, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow); from searches in the field of spatial forms (“Cubist Landscape”, 1918; “Collage”, 1921, both - Center Pompidou, Paris) to works where the main role is played by the symbolism of color, in which the influence of Jewish tradition and impressions of works of ancient Russian art is felt ( “Jew in Red”, 1916, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The avant-garde orientation was especially clearly manifested in the graphics of those years (“Movement”, 1921, ink, Center Pompidou, Paris) and in works related to the theater: in the panel “Jewish Theater” (1920, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) complex symbolism was developed, including elements of Jewish tradition, encrypted comments on theatrical behind-the-scenes events, Chagall’s declaration on the tasks of the Jewish theater.

The first years after returning to Paris were the calmest in Chagall's life and work. It seemed that the artist was summing up his life; He, in particular, worked on an illustrated autobiographical book.

Almost until the end of the 1920s. Chagall worked mainly in graphics - book illustrations for " Dead souls"N. Gogol (1923-27, published in 1948) and "Fables" by J. Lafontaine (1926-30, published in 1952).

During these years, Chagall continued to paint and wrote many sketches from nature (“Ida at the Window”, 1924, City Museum, Amsterdam). His palette brightened and became more variegated, his compositions abounded in detail. Chagall returned to his old works, creating variations on their themes (“Reader”, 1923-26, Kunstmuseum, Basel; “Birthday”, 1923, S. Guggenheim Museum, New York).

In 1931, Chagall, commissioned by A. Vollard, created 39 gouaches - illustrations for the Bible, in which changes in the figurative structure are clearly visible: Chagall abandoned reminiscences of the “shtetl” theme (see Shtetl), his landscapes are monumental, and the images of patriarchs evoke portraits Rembrandt's elders.

At the end of the 1930s. the feeling of the impending Catastrophe found expression in “Crucifixions” (“White Crucifixion”, 1938, Art Institute, Chicago; “Martyr”, 1940, family collection). The composition and color scheme of these works goes back to the Russian icon, but Jesus is depicted in a tallit, and all the attributes of the picture are associated with Judaism (Torah scrolls, menorah); the landscape and characters return the viewer to Vitebsk and the Hasidim.

Religious themes predominate in Chagall's late work. Made in the 1950-60s. The 17 large canvases included in the “Biblical Images” cycle were partly based on Chagall’s earlier works (“Paradise”, “Abraham and the Three Angels”, “Song of Songs”, all from the Chagall Biblical Images Museum, Nice). Chagall's paintings of the late period, associated with biblical themes, are characterized by expression and tragedy (Moses Breaking the Tablets, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne).

Chagall's monumental works, both on religious themes and dedicated to the theater, are stylistically close to " Biblical images“, but the specificity of the technique - the luminosity of stained glass windows, the dull shimmer of mosaics, the deep tones of carpets - gave the artist additional opportunities. In addition, symbolism, which always played a large role in Chagall’s works, was especially carefully thought out in the artist’s monumental works on religious themes. Thus, the very arrangement of stained glass windows in the Hadassah synagogue - four groups of three stained glass windows each - is dictated by the location of the twelve tribes of Israel around the Tabernacle of the Covenant at a rest stop in the Sinai desert, and the colors used in the stained glass windows are determined by the colors of the 12 stones (according to the number of tribes) that decorated the clothes high priest.

Painting by Chagall 1970-80s. also includes lyrical works, returning the artist to the past - to the image of the town, to the memories of loved ones (“Rest”, 1975; “Bride with a Bouquet”, 1977, both - P. Matisse Gallery, New York). Made in oil, they resemble pastels - blurred contours, a multi-colored haze create a feeling of a ghostly vision-mirage.

In 1964, Chagall designed the glass facade of the UN building in New York and the new interior design of the Paris Opera, and two years later he completed work on the frescoes at the New York Metropolitan Opera. In 1967, he participated as an artist in the production of Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1973, the Marc Chagall Museum opened in Nice, and in 1977, a personal exhibition of the artist’s works appeared in the Louvre.

Throughout his life, Chagall wrote poetry, first in Yiddish and Russian, and then in French. Chagall's lyrics are permeated with Jewish motifs; in it one can find responses to the tragic events of Jewish history - for example, the poem “In Memory of Jewish Artists - Victims of the Holocaust.” Many of Chagall's poems are a kind of key to understanding his painting. (A selection of Chagall’s poems - translated from Yiddish and written in Russian - was published in the collection M. Chagall. “Angel over the roofs. Poems, prose, articles, letters”, M., 1989).

The work of Marc Chagall, whose paintings include massive bouquets, melancholic clowns, lovers soaring in the clouds, mythical animals, biblical prophets, and even violinists on the roof, has become a landmark stage in the development of the world artistic arts.

Chagall lived long life: almost a hundred years. He witnessed terrible events, but the madness of the 20th century did not prevent the artist from perceiving the world with the bright sadness of a true sage.

Marc Chagall lived until the end of his life on the French Riviera.

He said about himself: “I lived my life in anticipation of a miracle.”

Only that country is mine - what is in my heart.
To which as if it were your own, without any visas or visas,
I'm coming in. My sadness and bitterness are visible to her.
She, my country, will put me to bed,
She will cover me with a fragrant stone.
I think now even if I go backwards -
I'll still go ahead, There,
To the high-altitude, mountain Gates.

Mark Zakharovich Chagall (1887-1985) - painter, graphic artist, theater artist, illustrator, master of monumental and applied arts.

CREATIVITY AND BIOGRAPHY OF MARC CHAGALL

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” (Saturday, 1910, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne) dominate. 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 “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-fairy-tale color contrasts of his canvases (“I and the Village”, 1911, Museum of Modern Art, New York; “Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers”, 1911–1912, City Museum, Amsterdam) have a great impact influence on the development of surrealism.

Saturday Gate of the Jewish Cemetery Me and the Village Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers

After the October Revolution in 1918–1919, Chagall served as a commissar of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of the provincial department of public education in Vitebsk, decorating 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, at the request of Ambroise Vollard, Chagall created in 1923–1930 the most striking illustrations for “Dead Souls” by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and “Fables” by J. de La Fontaine.

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 flow (“Time Has No Coasts,” 1930–1939, Museum of Modern Art, New York). Since 1955, work began on “Chagall’s Bible” - this is the name given to 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 a large number of 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; 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 at the Tretyakov Gallery.

When I open my eyes in the morning, I dream of seeing a more perfect world where friendliness and love rule. This alone is enough to make my day beautiful and worthy of being

• Marc Chagall is the only artist in the world whose stained glass windows decorate cathedrals of almost all faiths. Among the fifteen temples there are ancient synagogues, Lutheran churches, Catholic churches and other public buildings located in America, Europe and Israel.
• Specially commissioned by Charles de Gaulle, the current French president, the artist designed the ceiling of the Grand Opera in Paris. Two years later he painted two panels for the New York Metropolitan Opera.
• In July 1973, a museum called the “Biblical Message” opened in Nice, France, which was decorated with the artist’s works and housed in the building that he himself conceived. Some time later, the museum was awarded national status by the government.
• Chagall is considered one of the instigators of the pictorial sexual revolution. The fact is that already in 1909 a naked woman was depicted on his canvas. The model was Thea Brahman, who agreed to such a role only out of pity for the artist, who financially could not afford professional models. Later these sessions led to romantic relationships, and Thea became the painter’s first love.
• Being in a bad mood, the artist painted only biblical scenes or flowers. At the same time, the latter sold much better, which greatly disappointed Chagall.
• The painter considered only love to be the most important thing in the Universe and life.
• Marc Chagall died on March 28, 1985 while climbing to the second floor in an elevator, therefore, his death occurred in flight, albeit not very high.

Bibliography and filmography of the artist

• Apchinskaya N. Marc Chagall. Portrait of the artist. - M.: 1995.
• McNeil, David. In the footsteps of an angel: memories of the son of Marc Chagall. M
• Maltsev, Vladimir. Marc Chagall - theater artist: Vitebsk-Moscow: 1918-1922 // Chagall collection. Vol. 2. Materials of the VI-IX Chagall readings in Vitebsk (1996-1999). Vitebsk, 2004. pp. 37-45.
• Marc Chagall Museum in Nice - Le Musee National Message Biblique Marc Chagall (Marc Chagall's Biblical Message)
• Haggard W. My life with Chagall. Seven years of abundance. M., Text, 2007.
• Khmelnitskaya, Lyudmila. Marc Chagall Museum in Vitebsk.
• Khmelnitskaya, Lyudmila. Marc Chagall in artistic culture Belarus 1920s - 1990s.
• Chagall, Bella. Burning lights. M., Text, 2001; 2006.
• Shatskikh A. S. Gogol's world through the eyes of Marc Chagall. - Vitebsk: Marc Chagall Museum, 1999. - 27 p.
• Shatskikh A. S.“Blessed be my Vitebsk”: Jerusalem as a prototype of Chagall’s City // Poetry and painting: Collection of works of memoryN. I. Khardzhieva/ Ed.M. B. MeilakhaAndD. V. Sarabyanova. - M.: Languages ​​of Russian culture, 2000. - P. 260-268. - ISBN 5-7859-0074-2.
• Shishanov V.A. “If you’re going to be a minister...” // Bulletin of the Marc Chagall Museum. 2003. No. 2(10). pp. 9-11.
• Kruglov Vladimir, Petrova Evgenia. Marc Chagall. - St. Petersburg: State Russian Museum, Palace Editions, 2005. - P. 168. - ISBN 5-93332-175-3.
• Shishanov V.“These young people were ardent socialists...”: Participants revolutionary movement surrounded by Marc Chagall and Bella Rosenfeld // Bulletin of the Marc Chagall Museum. 2005. No. 13. P. 64-74.
• Shishanov V. About the lost portrait of Marc Chagall by Yuri Pan // Bulletin of the Marc Chagall Museum. 2006. No. 14. P. 110-111.
• Shishanov, Valery. Marc Chagall: Sketches for the biography of the artist on archival matters
• Shishanov V. A. Vitebsk Museum of Modern Art: history of creation and collections. 1918-1941. Minsk: Medisont, 2007. - 144 p.

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 the artist’s later paintings differ from his 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’s calendar dedicated to Belarusian fine arts, decided to study ten works by Chagall in order 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 grabbed 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 youth, set off for 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 it yourself. 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 artistic directions: 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 “Russian and French artist of Jewish origin, born in the Vitebsk province."

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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 all 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 that determine his belonging to a particular nation. 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 right and left that this was not an artistic device: supposedly, 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 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.

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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 painting “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 was then. And Chagall himself wrote: “An artist must sometimes be in diapers” - apparently meaning that outside world should not derail the creator's peaceful flight of fancy.

"White Crucifix", 1938

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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

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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 the 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 studying the color scheme. 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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