Chagall birth. Biography of Mark Chagall. Life abroad

Heinrich Emsen and Hans Richter was an artist whose genius frightened and repelled. Creating paintings, he was guided solely by instinct: the compositional structure, proportions and chiaroscuro were alien to him.

It is extremely difficult for a person devoid of imagery of thought to visually perceive the paintings of the creator, because they do not fit into the concept of exemplary painting and are strikingly different from classical works and, where the accuracy of lines is elevated to the rank of absolute.

Childhood and youth

Movsha Khatskelevich (later Moses Khatskelevich and Mark Zakharovich) Chagall was born on July 6, 1887 in the Belarusian city of Vitebsk, within the boundaries of the Russian Empire, separated for Jews. The head of the Khatskel family, Mordukhov Chagall, worked as a loader in a herring merchant's shop. He was a quiet, pious and hardworking man. The artist's mother, Feiga-Ita, was an energetic, sociable and enterprising woman. She ran the household, supervised her husband and children.

From the age of five, Movsha, like any Jewish boy, attended a cheder (elementary school), where he studied prayers and the Law of God. At the age of 13, Chagall entered the Vitebsk city four-year school. True, studying did not give him much pleasure: at that time, Mark was an unremarkable stuttering boy who, due to self-doubt, could not find a common language with his peers.

Provincial Vitebsk became for the future artist both the first friend, and the first love, and the first teacher. Young Moses enthusiastically painted endless genre scenes, which he watched daily from the windows of his house. It is worth noting that the parents had no particular illusions about the artistic abilities of their son. The mother repeatedly put drawings of Moses instead of napkins on the dining table, and the father did not want to hear about the offspring's education from the eminent Vitebsk painter Yudel Pan at that time.

The ideal of the patriarchal Chagall family was the son-accountant or, at worst, the son-clerk in the house of a wealthy entrepreneur. For a couple of months, young Moses begged his father for money for a drawing school. When the head of the family was tired of his son's tearful requests, he threw the necessary amount of money out the open window. The future graphic artist had to collect the rubles scattered over the dusty pavement in front of laughing townsfolk.

Studying was difficult for Movsha: he was a promising painter and a useless student. Subsequently, these two contradictory character traits were noted by all people who tried to influence Chagall's art education. Already at the age of fifteen, he considered himself an unsurpassed genius and therefore could hardly withstand the remarks of his teachers. According to Mark, only the great could be his mentor. Unfortunately, there were no artists of this level in a small town.

Having saved up money, Chagall, without telling his parents, left for St. Petersburg. The capital of the empire seemed to him the promised land. There was the only academy of arts in Russia, where Moses was going to enter. The harsh truth of life made the necessary adjustments to the young man's pink dreams: he failed his first and last official exam. The doors of a prestigious educational institution never opened before a genius. Not used to giving up, the guy entered the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, headed by Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich. There he studied for 2 months.

In the summer of 1909, Chagall, desperate to find his way in art, returned to Vitebsk. The young man fell into depression. The paintings of this period reflect the dejected inner state of the unrecognized genius. He was often seen on the bridge across the Vitba. It is not known what these decadent moods could have led to if Chagall had not met the love of his life - Bertha (Bella) Rosenfeld. Meeting Bella filled his empty vessel of inspiration to the brim. Mark wanted to live and create again.

In the autumn of 1909 he returned to Petersburg. To the desire to find a mentor equal to him in talent, a new fixed idea was added: the young man planned to conquer the Northern capital at all costs. Letters of recommendation helped Chagall to enter the prestigious art school of the eminent philanthropist Zvantseva. The artistic process of the educational institution was led by the painter Lev Bakst.

According to Moses' contemporaries, Bakst took him without any complaints. Moreover, it is reliably known that Lev paid for the training of a promising graphic artist. Bakst directly told Movsha that his talent would not take root in Russia. In May 1911, Chagall went to Paris on a scholarship received from Maxim Vinaver, where he continued his studies. In the capital of France, he first began to sign his work with the name Mark.

Painting

Chagall began his artistic biography with the painting The Dead Man. In 1909, the works “Portrait of my bride in black gloves” and “Family” created under the influence of neo-primitivist style were written. In August 1910, Mark left for Paris. The central works of the Parisian period were "Me and my village", "Russia, donkeys and others", "Self-portrait with seven fingers" and "Calvary". At the same time, he painted the canvases "Snuff of Tobacco", "Praying Jew", which brought Chagall to the artistic leaders of the resurgent Jewish culture.

In June 1914, his first solo exhibition opened in Berlin, which included almost all the paintings and drawings created in Paris. In the summer of 1914, Mark returned to Vitebsk, where he was caught by the outbreak of the First World War. In 1914-1915, a series of paintings was created from seventy works based on natural impressions (portraits, landscapes, genre scenes).

In pre-revolutionary times, epic monumental typified portraits were created (“Newspaper Seller”, “Green Jew”, “Praying Jew”, “Red Jew”), paintings from the Lovers cycle (“Blue Lovers”, “Green Lovers”, “Pink lovers") and genre, portrait, landscape compositions ("Mirror", "Portrait of Bella in a white collar", "Above the city").

In the early summer of 1922, Chagall went to Berlin to find out about the fate of the works exhibited before the war. In Berlin, the artist learned new printing techniques - etching, drypoint, woodcuts. In 1922, he engraved a series of etchings intended to serve as illustrations for his autobiography My Life (the folder with engravings My Life was published in 1923). The book, translated into French, was published in Paris in 1931. To create a cycle of illustrations for the novel "Dead Souls" in 1923, Mark Zakharovich moved to Paris.

In 1927, a series of gouaches "Circus Vollard" appeared with its crazy images of clowns, harlequins and acrobats that are transparent to the entire Chagall's work. By order of the Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany in 1933, the master's works were publicly burned in Mannheim. The persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany, the premonition of an approaching catastrophe, painted Chagall's works in apocalyptic tones. In the pre-war and war years, crucifixion became one of the leading themes of his art (“White Crucifix”, “Crucified Artist”, “Martyr”, “Yellow Christ”).

Personal life

The first wife of an outstanding artist was the daughter of a jeweler Bella Rosenfeld. He later wrote: "For many years her love illuminated everything I did." Six years after the first meeting, on July 25, 1915, they got married. With the woman who gave him a daughter, Ida, Mark lived a long and happy life. True, fate developed in such a way that the artist outlived his muse much: Bella died of sepsis in an American hospital on September 2, 1944. Then, after returning to the empty house after the funeral, he put on the easel a portrait of Bella, painted by him back in Russia, and asked Ida to throw away all the brushes and paints.

"Artistic mourning" lasted 9 months. Only thanks to the attention and care of his daughter, he returned to life. In the summer of 1945, Ida hired a nurse to look after her father. So Virginia Haggard appeared in Chagall's life. An affair broke out between them, which gave Mark a son, David. In 1951, the young lady left Mark for the Belgian photographer Charles Leirens. She took her son and refused 18 works of the artist, presented to her at different times, leaving herself only two of his drawings.

Moses again wanted to commit suicide, and in order to distract her father from painful thoughts, Ida brought him together with the owner of a London fashion salon, Valentina Brodskaya. Marriage with her Chagall issued 4 months after they met. The daughter of the creator has more than once regretted this pimping. The stepmother did not let children and grandchildren go to Chagall, "inspired" to draw decorative bouquets, because they "sold well", and thoughtlessly spent her husband's fees. With this woman, the painter lived until his death, continuing, however, to constantly paint Bella.

Death

The eminent artist died on March 28, 1985 (aged 98). Mark Zakharovich was buried at the local cemetery of the commune of Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

Today, the works of Marc Chagall can be seen in galleries in France, USA, Germany, Russia, Belarus, Switzerland and Israel. The memory of the great artist is also honored in his homeland: the house in Vitebsk, where the graphic artist lived for a long time, was turned into a house-museum of Chagall. To this day, lovers of the painter's work can see with their own eyes the place where the avant-garde artist created his masterpieces.

Artworks

• "Dream" (1976);
• "Spoon of Milk" (1912);
• "Lovers of the green" (1917);
• "Russian wedding" (1909);
• Purim (1917);
• "Musician" (1920);
• "For Vava" (1955);
• "Peasants at the Well" (1981);
• "Green Jew" (1914);
• "Seller of Cattle" (1912);
• "Tree of Life" (1948);
• "The Clown and the Violinist" (1976);
• "Bridges over the Seine" (1954);
• "Couple or Holy Family" (1909);
• "Street Performers at Night" (1957);
• "Honoring the Past" (1944);

Chagall Mark Zakharovich (1887-1985) is an artist of Jewish origin who worked in Russia and France. He was engaged in painting, graphics, scenography, was fond of writing poetry in Yiddish. He is a prominent representative of avant-garde art in the art of the twentieth century.

Childhood and youth

Marc Chagall's real name is Moses. He was born on July 6, 1887 on the outskirts of the city of Vitebsk (now it is the Republic of Belarus, and at that time the Vitebsk province belonged to the Russian Empire). In the family, he was the first child.

Father, Chagall Khatskel Mordukhovich (Davidovich), worked as a clerk. Mom, Feigi-Ita Mendelevna Chernina, was engaged in housekeeping and raising children. My father and mother were cousins ​​to each other. Mark had five more younger sisters and a brother.

Mark spent most of his childhood with his grandparents. Primary education, as was customary among the Jews, received at home. At the age of 11, Chagall became a student of the 1st Vitebsk four-year school. Since 1906, he studied painting with the Vitebsk artist Yudel Pen, who kept his own school of fine arts.

Petersburg

Mark really wanted to study further in the fine arts, he asked his father to give him money to study in St. Petersburg. He threw 27 rubles to his son, poured himself some tea and smugly sipped, said that there was no more and he would not send him a penny anymore.

In St. Petersburg, Mark began to study at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, where he studied for two seasons. This school was led by the Russian artist Nicholas Roerich, Chagall was taken to the third year without passing exams.

After the Drawing School, he continued to study painting at a private school. Two of his Vitebsk friends also studied in St. Petersburg, thanks to them Mark became a member of the circle of young intellectuals, poets and artists. Chagall lived very poorly, he had to earn a living day and night, working as a retoucher.

Here in St. Petersburg, Chagall painted his first two famous paintings "Death" and "Birth". And Mark also had his first admirer of creativity - the then-famous lawyer and State Duma deputy Vinaver M. M. He bought two canvases from a novice artist and gave a scholarship for a trip to Europe.

Paris

So in 1911, with a scholarship, Mark managed to go to Paris, where he got acquainted with the avant-garde works of European poets and artists. Chagall fell in love with this city immediately, he called Paris the second Vitebsk.

During this period, despite the brightness and originality of his work, a thin thread of Picasso's influence is felt in Mark's paintings. Chagall's works began to be exhibited in Paris, and in 1914 his personal exhibition was to be held in Berlin. Before such a significant event in the life of the artist, Mark decided to go on vacation to Vitebsk, especially since his sister was just getting married. He went for three months, and stayed for 10 years, everything was turned upside down by the outbreak of the First World War.

Life in Russia

In 1915, Mark was an employee of the military-industrial committee of St. Petersburg. In 1916 he worked for the Jewish Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. After 1917, Chagall left for Vitebsk, where he was appointed to the position of authorized commissariat for arts in the Vitebsk province.

In 1919, Mark contributed to the opening of an art school in Vitebsk.

In 1920, the artist moved to Moscow, where he got a job at the Jewish Chamber Theater. He was an art designer, at first Mark painted the walls in the lobby and auditoriums, then he made sketches of stage costumes and scenery.

In 1921, he got a job at a Jewish labor school-colony for homeless children, which was located in Malakhovka. Mark was a teacher there.

All this time he did not stop creating, from under his brush came such world-famous canvases:

• "Me and my village";
• "Calvary";
• "Birthday";
• "Walk";
• "Above the city";
• "White Crucifix".

Life abroad

In 1922, Chagall emigrated from Russia with his wife and daughter, first they went to Lithuania, then to Germany. In 1923 the family moved to Paris, where 14 years later the artist was granted French citizenship.

During World War II, at the invitation of the American Museum of Modern Art, he went to the United States away from Nazi-occupied France, he returned to Europe only in 1947.

In 1960, the artist was awarded the Erasmus Prize.

From the mid-60s, Chagall became interested in mosaics and stained-glass windows, sculpture, tapestries, and ceramics. He painted the Parliament of Jerusalem and the Paris Grand Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the National Bank in Chicago.

In 1973, Mark came to the USSR, where he visited Moscow and Leningrad, his exhibition was held in the Tretyakov Gallery, he presented several of his works to the gallery.

In 1977, Chagall received the highest French award - the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. In the year of Chagall's 90th birthday, an exhibition of his works was held at the Louvre.
Mark died in France on March 28, 1985, where he is buried in the cemetery of the Provencal town of Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

Personal life

In 1909, in Vitebsk, Chagall's friend Thea Brahman introduced him to her girlfriend Bertha Rosenfeld. He realized in the first second of his acquaintance that this girl was everything for him - his eyes, his soul. He was sure at once that his wife was in front of him. He affectionately called her Bella, she became for him the one and only muse. Since the day they met, the theme of love has taken the main place in Chagall's work. Bella's features can be recognized in almost all the women depicted by the artist.

In 1915 they got married, and in the following 1916 their baby Ida was born.

Bella was the main love in his life, after her death in 1944, he forbade everyone to talk about her in the past tense, as if she had gone somewhere and would now return.

The second wife of Chagall was Virginia McNeill-Haggard, she gave birth to the artist's son David. But in 1950 they broke up.

In 1952 Mark married for the third time. His wife Vava - Valentina Brodskaya - owned a fashion salon in London.

The life path of Marc Chagall (1887-1985) is a whole era, and all the main events that entered the world history of the twentieth century were reflected in the work of this artist. A native of Belarusian Vitebsk, Marc Chagall was a graphic artist, painter, theater artist, muralist, one of the leaders of the world avant-garde of the twentieth century. He created his works in various artistic techniques: easel and monumental painting, illustrations, stage costumes, sculptures, ceramics, stained-glass windows, mosaics. And the outstanding artist wrote poetry in Yiddish.

Moishe Segal - a native of Vitebsk

Self-portrait with seven fingers.

The great-grandfather of Marc Chagall (born Moishe Segal) was the famous Jewish artist Chaim Segal, who painted synagogues. The boy was the first child of ten children in the family of Khatskel (Zakhar) and Feiga Shagalov, who were close relatives to each other: cousin and sister. For a long time, the Belarusian town of Liozino was considered the birthplace of the artist. But in fact, he was born on the outskirts of Vitebsk in the Peskovatik area.

On that July day in 1887, when Mark was born, a great fire raged in the town. The bed on which Feiga lay with her newborn son was dragged from place to place in order to save the mother and the baby. Apparently, therefore, throughout his long life, the artist experienced a constant desire to change places. And on his paintings he depicted the fire that spared him in the form of a red rooster.

Avant-gardism of Marc Chagall.

For knowledge in St. Petersburg with 27 rubles in his pocket.

Mark was a diligent student: he received a traditional Jewish education in his native city and learned the basics of fine art at the art school of the painter Yudel Pan. In 1906, the young man announced to his father that he was leaving for St. Petersburg to enter the Drawing School. The father, throwing 27 rubles to his son, 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 will not send anything. You can't count."

In St. Petersburg, Mark impressed the members of the selection committee with his work, and was immediately admitted to the 3rd year.

Portrait of a young Marc Chagall by his teacher Yudel Pan. (1914).

Commissioner for the Arts of Vitebsk Governorate

Two revolutions, one after another in Russia, brought a new life, which seemed to Mark "new antiquity", where the newly born art was to flourish and grow stronger. Chagall, returning to his small homeland, was appointed authorized commissioner for the arts in the Vitebsk province. Lunacharsky himself gave him a mandate.

On January 28, 1919, with the assistance of Marc Chagall, the Vitebsk Art School was opened, which he led for some time. In those years, being authorized, he even issued decrees on art.


Marc Chagall with students.

Sculptures and ceramics by Marc Chagall

Artist, sculptor, ceramist - Marc Chagall.

Sculptures of small forms of Chagall are practically unknown to the general public. The master discovered this type of art for himself in 1949, when he settled in Vence on the French Riviera. The artist, fascinated by the variety of stones on this earth, began to carve in earnest. He studied new materials through ceramics and sculpture for thirty years.

There are about a hundred of his small-form sculptural works on biblical themes, variations on the theme of the relationship between a man and a woman. Some of them echo the form of depiction of prehistoric and medieval art.

Sculpture by Marc Chagall.

Sculpture by Marc Chagall.

Sculpture by Marc Chagall.

Sculpture by Marc Chagall.

Sculpture by Marc Chagall

Sculpture by Marc Chagall.

Stained glass by Marc Chagall

In the 60s, Chagall gradually switched to monumental art forms: mosaics, stained glass. During these years, by order of the Israeli government, he creates unique mosaics for the parliament building in Jerusalem. The success led to impressive orders for decoration with mosaics and stained-glass windows of religious temples.

Chagall became the only artist in the world whose monumental works decorated religious buildings of several confessions at once: synagogues, Lutheran churches, Catholic churches - only fifteen buildings in the USA, Europe and Israel.


Jerusalem. Ein Karem. Stained glass by Marc Chagall.

Stained-glass window "Window of the World" in the reception hall of the building of the UN General Assembly.

Stained glass. World creation.

Stained glass by Marc Chagall.

Stained glass by Marc Chagall.

Stained glass by Marc Chagall.

According to data compiled by the Art Loss Register, Marc Chagall was included in the rating of artists whose work is most popular among art thieves. The demand for his easel painting and graphics in the underworld is second only to Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro in popularity. More than five hundred avant-garde works are listed as stolen.


A fragment of Marc Chagall's Peisanet, stolen 6 years ago and found in Los Angeles.

Gypsy prediction

There is a legend how a gypsy told Chagall a long and eventful life in childhood, and that he would love one extraordinary woman and two ordinary ones and die in flight. Indeed, the prediction came true. Marc Chagall was married three times.

The first wife is Bella Rosenfeld, the daughter of a Vitebsk jeweler. Chagall married her in 1915. In 1916, their daughter Ida was born, who later became a biographer and researcher of the artist's work. Bella died of sepsis in September 1944.


Marc Chagall with Bella and daughter Ida.

The second wife is Virginia McNeill-Haggard, daughter of the former British consul in the United States. From this marriage they had a son, David. In 1950, after moving to France, Virginia, taking her son, ran away from Chagall with her lover.


Marc Chagall with Virginia and son.

The third wife, whom Marc Chagall married in 1952, is Valentina Brodskaya, "Vava", the owner of a London fashion salon and the daughter of the famous manufacturer and sugar producer Lazar Brodsky.


Marc Chagall with Valentina.

On March 28, 1985, 98-year-old Chagall boarded an elevator to go up to the second floor of his home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. During the ascent, his heart stopped. And this prediction of the fortuneteller also came true.

"... In art, as in life, everything is possible if they are based on Love," said the artist.
Marc Chagall carried his first love for Bella Rosenfeld at 29 years of age through his entire long life. She remained the Muse until the death of the artist, who refused to speak of her as dead.

Marc Chagall. 1920. Paris

“From an early age I was fascinated by the Bible. It always seemed to me and it seems to me now that this book is the greatest source of poetry of all time. For a long time I have been looking for its reflection in life and art. The Bible is like nature, and that's the mystery I'm trying to convey."

These words belong Marc Chagall(1887-1985) - the author of the well-known painting "Above the City".

To 130th anniversary since the birth of the famous artist "Thomas" about the meaning of the Bible in the life and work of Chagall art critic, candidate of cultural studies Irina Konstantinovna Yazykova.

Above the city. Marc Chagall. 1914–1918

"Bible Message"

"The Bible Message" is a series of prints and drawings on biblical themes., which Chagall began to make back in the 1930s, when a well-known Parisian publisher commissioned the artist to illustrate the Holy Scriptures.

Chagall took this work very seriously and even went to Israel to go through the places described in the Book of Books. The work was not finished, the war began, but, captured by this grandiose theme, the artist returned to it in the 1950s. He greatly expanded the Bible series. If at first it included black-and-white engravings and etchings, then in the post-war period the artist sought to create color sheets.

Moses with the Tablets of the Covenant. Marc Chagall. 1956

Then he began to depict biblical characters in murals, on stained-glass windows, in ceramics. Finally, in 1955, an edition of the Bible illustrated by Chagall saw the light of day. And in 1956 and 1960, the artist's works on biblical themes were exhibited in Paris. They made a huge impression on the audience. In 1973, a museum of works by Marc Chagall was solemnly opened in Nice, which was called the “Bible Message”.

We can say that all of Chagall's work was a biblical message to the world, the artist believed that he should tell people about the greatness of the Creator and the beauty of the world, about love and death, about heaven and earth, created by God for the joy of people.

Dream of Jacob. Marc Chagall. 1954-67

Marc Chagall was an amazing artist, unlike anyone else, wise as the ancient prophets, and retaining a childish enthusiasm for life until old age.

His style is still the subject of study and debate, some consider him a daring modernist, others, on the contrary, note his deep connection with tradition, in particular with the tradition of folk painting.

Noah's Ark (sketch). Marc Chagall. 1963

Art critics will look for the origins of the originality of Chagall's art for a long time, but the artist himself was firmly convinced that God had instructed him to sing the world he created, and he never betrayed this vocation, he found his language early and remained true to himself all his life.

« Why is the cow green and the horse flies?

Movsha Khatskelevich Sagal (later Mark Zakharovich Chagall) was born on June 24 (July 6), 1887 on the outskirts of Vitebsk. From childhood, he received a traditional Jewish home education. In Jewish towns, art was not favored, but Chagall's mother, seeing the boy's artistic abilities, gave him to study painting to Yehudi Pen, a student of Ilya Repin. It is known that one of Chagall's ancestors in the 18th century painted the synagogue and was a very respected person, and, perhaps, the mother thought that Mark would become the same, paint signs and advertisements - this could bring a stable income. But Chagall began to explore the world around him, drawing everything he saw with his own eyes.

Over Vitebsk. Marc Chagall. 1914

His early works well convey the life of Vitebsk and the life of its inhabitants: a portrait of a father, washing a child, a hairdresser, the gates of a Jewish cemetery, lilies of the valley on the windowsill, a forest outside the window, etc. At the same time, familiar things and phenomena acquire a different, spiritual, measurement. Pretty soon, Chagall leaves I. Pan and begins an independent artistic search.

In 1906, Marc Chagall travels to St. Petersburg, he is only 19 years old, but the most famous artists recognize him as a brother in the brush. In 1910, Chagall ended up in Paris, and here he also found himself in the thick of artistic life.

For a whole decade he lives between St. Petersburg, Paris and Vitebsk. The revolution abruptly changes his fate: at first he accepts it, but when the new government begins to trample on freedom, in the name of which it had recently raised the people, Marc Chagall leaves Russia. It happened in 1922.

Me and my village. Marc Chagall. 1911

True, before that he managed to serve in Vitebsk as a commissar of arts. By the first anniversary of October, he decorated the city in such a way that even the commissars accustomed to leftist art were shocked - winged bulls, snow-white angels, birds of paradise and hugging lovers flew on the posters of the demonstrators.

Chagall understood revolution as overcoming everything inert, heavy, enslaving, including the force of gravity. The Bolsheviks did not like his art:

“The authorities did not understand why the cow is green and the horse flies, and what all this has to do with Marx,”

The artist wrote in the book "My Life".

Artist over Vitebsk. Marc Chagall. 1982-1983

Marc Chagall lived a long and amazing life - he was born in 1887 in Vitebsk and died in 1985 in Paris. Between these dates, almost a hundred years, and almost until the last day, the artist did not leave the feeling of a miracle happening to him and around him.

In the Soviet Union, his name was hushed up for a long time, because he was an emigrant.

Only in 1973, already a world famous artist, he visited Moscow, donating seventy of his graphic sheets to the Tretyakov Gallery. And the first exhibition of Chagall in Russia took place after his death, in 1987, when the world celebrated the centenary of the master.

Fascinated by the Bible

The Bible has always served for Marc Chagall not just as a source of inspiration, but as a Book of books, accommodating the whole world, all plots and stories, all the beauty and truth of life.

Song of Songs. Marc Chagall. 1958

His work is deeply imbued with biblical poetry, even when in his youth he painted his beloved wife Bella or himself with her flying through the sky, he thought of it as a reflection of the Song of Songs, where love raises lovers under the clouds and fills them with happiness.

Often in his paintings and etchings we see the ancient biblical prophets, majestic and at the same time sad in their wisdom (“There is much sorrow in much wisdom,” says Ecclesiastes).

Leaving Vitebsk, Chagall took this world with him forever. In his landscapes, the earth is round and very small and cozy, while the sky is deep and boundless. And among the place with small rickety houses, the Eiffel Tower rises. This is both Vitebsk and Paris at the same time. This is God's world. Chagall's landscapes are written as if from a bird's eye, or rather from an angel's flight. In many pictures we see angels - flying through the sky or carrying the Torah, crowning lovers or presenting flowers - this is a world in which heaven and earth are connected by the heavenly messengers of God.

Lovers. Marc Chagall. 1929

But it cannot be said that Marc Chagall lived in an unreal world where only angels, saints and lovers exist. He reacted very sharply to the events of the terrible twentieth century. So, for example, the painting “White Crucifixion” was painted by Chagall as a response to the tragedy of the so-called Kristallnacht, when on the night of November 9-10, 1938, a whole series of Jewish pogroms was organized in Germany.

This picture depicts the crucified Christ, around which everything happens: there are communists storming the village, and national socialists defiling the synagogue, and Jews running away with their belongings, wars, revolutions, conflagrations - in a word, everything that was filled with tragic century. The “White Crucifixion” and similar paintings (“The Yellow Crucifixion”, “Exodus”, etc.) still cause a lot of controversy due to their originality.

White crucifix. Marc Chagall. 1938

The most common question is: Who was Christ for Chagall? Why does the plot of the crucifixion appear in his paintings from time to time? What is it: a tribute to the Christian tradition or an image familiar to European culture? The answer must be sought in the Bible, and it is in the Old Testament. For example, in the book of the prophet Isaiah, where the suffering Messiah is depicted: “He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our diseases…” (Is 53).

Yes, for Chagall Christ is not a God-man, but first of all a suffering righteous man who is being persecuted from all sides. But it is impossible not to see here the image of the One who takes upon himself the sin of the world, who shares our sorrows with us, thereby strengthening the world and not allowing it to perish completely.

No, Chagall did not become a Christian, but he was a deep man, close to God.

The artist at the easel. Saint Paul. Marc Chagall. 1979

Often in his paintings, Chagall depicts himself with a palette and an easel, as if emphasizing that the artist is a witness and chronicler, called to capture this world in all its diversity. But whatever he portrays - the creation of the world by God, King David dancing in front of the ark, the battle of Jacob with the Angel, the cat sitting on the window of his Parisian apartment, lovers, the prophet embracing the Torah - all this is permeated with the spirit of reverence and gratitude to the Creator for creation and for every moment of life. Marc Chagall is a biblical artist, not even because he often turned to the plots of the Holy Scriptures, but because he retained his spirit in his works - the spirit of praise and prayer, the spirit of contemplation and praise, the spirit of parables and psalms.

Intro: An angel touched Elijah (detail). Marc Chagall

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 whom he painted in all his female images, and when did he begin to foresee the danger to the lives of the Jews? KYKY, together with the brand Bulbash®, which releases a New Year calendar dedicated to Belarusian fine arts, decided to study ten works by Chagall in order to remember those who are worth being proud of. Well, to have something to trump in small talk in the company of aesthetes.

"Old woman with a ball", 1906

In 1906, the year this picture was painted, Marc Chagall studied fine art at the art school of the 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 captured twenty-seven rubles - the only money in my life that my father gave me for art education - I, a ruddy and curly youth, go to St. Petersburg with a friend. Decided! Tears and pride choked me when I picked up money from the floor - my father threw it under the table. Crawled and picked up. To my father's questions, I stuttered and answered that I wanted to enter an art school ... I don’t remember exactly what mine he cut and what he said. Most likely, at first he said nothing, then, as usual, warmed 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 will not send anything. You can't count."

In St. Petersburg, Chagall studied at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, which was headed by Nicholas Roerich. In a school with such a gentle name, by the way, he was accepted without an exam immediately to the third year. And “The Old Woman with a Ball” is a painting by Chagall, very characteristic of the described period of the artist’s life. Pure expressionism, in which the expression prevails over the image.

"Model", 1910

When Chagall wrote The Model, he was already living in Paris. In this period of his life, he became acquainted with new areas of art for himself: 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 picture shows a girl painting a picture. Despite the fact that the artist is dressed in Parisian fashion, a carpet with a characteristic Slavic ornament is visible on the wall - a kind of tribute to her homeland. We will not embark on finding out whose artist he is, but we will hint that Wikipedia considers him "a Russian and French artist of Jewish origin, born in the Vitebsk province."

And although the lady on the canvas is calm, the color scheme of the picture is disturbing. It is known that Chagall associated red shades with anxiety: as a child in Vitebsk, the little artist witnessed a fire. Then the future creator barely escaped. It seems that in the picture Chagall embodied all his anxiety and anxiety associated with the just-happened move from St. Petersburg to Paris.

"Violinist", 1912-1913

In the Jewish way of life, the violinist has always been important: no birth, no funeral, no wedding can do without a musician. So the violinist became a symbol of all human life. In this picture there are almost all the seasons of the year: in the foreground - yellow autumn, turning into spring. The background is winter.

And the violinist also, as it were, consists of different areas that determine his belonging to a particular people. In general, the whole picture is oversaturated with color, conveying the energy of the artist. Do you know why the violinist plays on the roof? Chagall himself told right and left that this was not an artistic device: allegedly, he had an uncle who, when drinking compote, climbed onto the roof so that no one could disturb him. It remains to take the word of the artist.

"Blue Lovers", 1914

The famous series of Marc Chagall - "Blue Lovers", "Pink Lovers", "Gray 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 the death of Bella Chagall continued to inscribe her in almost all of his female images. No wonder - Rosenfeld waited for Chagall for four years while he was in Paris. After that, Chagall returned to Vitebsk to take Bella to France.

The painting "Blue Lovers" is clearly phantasmagoric. Space and objects are distorted, as if in a dream. Blue for the artist 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.

"Jewish Cemetery Gate", 1916

The world of the picture is spiritual and skyward, at the same time collapsing and chaotic. Take a closer look: here are the monumental old gates open to new inhabitants. The gaze of the beholder goes along the lunar path to the graves, which stand in the very center of the canvas.

Abstract color planes, contrasts, the dynamics of moonlight and the night sky give the picture, as researchers of Chagall's works note, the features of sacred painting. In fact, it is most important to understand that already in 1916 Chagall foresaw a global tragedy.

"Above the city", 1914-1918

Well, you know this picture for sure. Of course, it is 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 seeks to show a person the transience of time, and how much he wastes it. The artist does not detail the objects of the picture, it is only a world of memories and dreams. There are no laws of physics, no logic, only floating souls in their romantic world. Chagall, by the way, painted flying not only lovers - for him, flying was not at all a strange pastime of a person, and could come from different emotions of mental states.

And we also insistently ask you to notice on the left under the fence a little man who relieves himself - here it is, an understanding of Chagall's romance. The world is indivisible, and everyday irony coexists with 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 - again real people - Mark himself and his wife Bella. He stands 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 "The Walk" - which are most often associated with the work of Chagall, belong to the period of time between 1914 and 1918. One can note the obvious portrait resemblance of the figures to Chagall himself and Rosenfeld, the poeticization of the landscapes of Vitebsk. And the "Walk" became part of the 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 "Above the City" they are already soaring in the sky together. The “walk” was also interpreted as an escape from the reality that the revolution then represented. And Chagall himself wrote: "An artist sometimes needs to be in diapers" - apparently meaning that the outside world should not chop off the creator's peaceful flight of fantasy.

"White crucifix", 1938

The creation of Chagall, which embodies the artist's vision of the contemporary world for him. Remember Chagall's Jewish cemetery twenty years ago and compare how much more tragic this canvas looks. Pay attention to the white beam - it crosses the picture from top to bottom. Art historians believe that this detail personifies 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 has been destroyed. He makes us perceive Christ asleep, not dead.

In the picture you can see a green figure with a bag over his shoulders. This figure is present in several of Chagall's works and is interpreted as any Jewish traveler or prophet Elijah. Also in the middle of the composition is a boat - an association with the hope of salvation from the Nazis.

The picture was painted right before the war - in the year when the Nazis staged a whole series of murders of the Jewish people. The background of this picture just shows scenes of disasters, pogroms and persecution. The "White Crucifixion" is a clear premonition of the coming Holocaust. By the way, this is the favorite painting of Pope Francis.

"Wedding Lights", 1945

Like almost all paintings depicting women, this canvas is dedicated to the artist's first wife, Bella. Chagall met her back in 1909 in Vitebsk, after several years of wandering in Paris, 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 did not write anything for nine months, and then, even entering into relationships with others, he always wrote only 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 Kiev manufacturer, who lived with Chagall for 33 years and became an excellent manager for him. She completely cut off his communication with Virginia, her son and many former acquaintances, but Chagall worked very hard during this period and became commercially successful.

"Night", 1953

The artist's travels, the events of his life changed the direction of his painting. Chagall's worldview, dynamic and multilayered, sometimes makes it difficult to understand the plots of his paintings. The painting was painted upon returning to Paris after emigrating to the United States. 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 historians note, displays 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. Red rooster - the artist's expectations of imminent changes and anxieties. The rooster is also associated with the religious views of Chagall. The theme of flying people continues. The woman looks real. Flying symbolizes freedom. And the night in the background only emphasizes it: the absolute freedom of travel in dreams.

By the way, with the approval of Valentina, Chagall began to draw 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 Maine, in the English Cathedral of All Saints in Toodley, the UN building in New York - do not forget to ask about it there.

This year the company Bulbash® thanks to the works of young authors who were inspired by the works of cult Belarusian artists, she 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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