Chagall is one of the few artists who formed an entire era in art. It is difficult to name a person who has not even heard about this great man with an incredible imagination and a unique vision of his place in painting. Until now, Chagall is a unique phenomenon, at least no one has managed to come close to the level of which.

The future recognized leader of avant-gardism was born on the outskirts of Vitebsk, which was one of the small towns of the Russian province, in 1887. It was a time of mass persecution of foreigners and the most terrible Jewish pogroms, which caused the mass emigration of the Jewish population to other countries, with a more loyal attitude towards representatives of the Jewish faith. But for little Movshe, all this was ahead. He received a traditional education for Jewish children, having studied the Torah, the Talmud and mastering the Hebrew language. After graduating from four classes of the school, Chagall studied the art of painting in Vitebsk at the school of Yudel Pan.

Realizing that his talent cannot be developed on the periphery, the artist decides to move to St. Petersburg - the then center of artistic thought. The father reluctantly lets him go, allocating a very meager amount and refusing to continue to financially help his son. In the city, Chagall studies at the Roerich school, and then with Bakst. At this time, Mark meets Bella Rosenfeld, who until the end of his life remains a muse and beloved woman, whose face is recognizable in literally every image created by the master.

In 1911, the artist's life begins, during which he was constantly thrown from one city and country to another. Having changed his Jewish name Movshe Khatskelevich to a more European-sounding Mark Zakharovich, he leaves on a scholarship to study at, returning home to Vitebsk in 1914 and just at the beginning of the First World War. The following year, he marries Bella, and a year later they have a daughter, Ida. She subsequently becomes a biographer and researcher of her father's work. At the end of the revolution, Chagall became the commissar for arts in the Vitebsk province and opened his own art school.

In 1920 he moved to and began to work on the design theatrical performances, and in 1922 he went to Lithuania for his own exhibition with his family. Then begins Chagall's journey to the West. He moved to, and then to, where he received citizenship in 1937. However, in 1941, the family had to flee from impending fascism to the United States, where Bella died in 1944. She was not the last woman in the life of the artist, but until the moment of his death she remained his love and eternal muse.

Since the 60s, Marc Chagall became interested in large forms and monumental art. His interests included paintings, including ceiling paintings, tapestries and stained-glass windows. Over the years, the master has created many significant things, including painting the ceiling of the Opera Garnier in France and panels for the Metropolitan Opera, mosaics for the National Bank in the United States.

Mark Zakharovich Chagall lived a great life and left a significant mark on the art of the avant-garde. He died at the age of 98, until the end of his life, remembering his origin and weaving motifs from the life of his native Vitebsk into his works.

Mark Zakharovich (Moses Khatskelevich) Chagall (French Marc Chagall, Yiddish מאַרק שאַגאַל‎). Born July 7, 1887 in Vitebsk, Vitebsk province (now Vitebsk region, Belarus) - died March 28, 1985 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Provence, France. Russian, Belarusian and French artist of Jewish origin. In addition to graphics and painting, he was also engaged in scenography, wrote poetry in Yiddish. One of the most famous representatives of the artistic avant-garde of the 20th century.

Movsha Khatskelevich (later Moses Khatskelevich and Mark Zakharovich) Chagall was born on June 24 (July 6), 1887 in the Peskovatik area on the outskirts of Vitebsk, was the eldest child in the family of the clerk Khatskel Mordukhovich (Davidovich) Chagall (1863-1921) and his wife Feiga-Ita Mendelevna Chernina (1871-1915). He had one brother and five sisters.

The parents married in 1886 and were cousins ​​to each other.

The artist’s grandfather, Dovid Eselevich Shagal (dovid-Mordukh Ioselevich Sagal, 1824 -?), came from the town of Babinovichi, Mogilev province, and in 1883 he settled with his sons in the town of Dobromysl, Orsha district, Mogilev province, so that in the “Lists of real estate owners property of the city of Vitebsk" the father of the artist Khatskel Mordukhovich Chagall is recorded as a "dobromyslyansky tradesman"; the artist's mother came from Liozno.

Since 1890, the Shagal family owned a wooden house on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street in the 3rd part of Vitebsk (significantly expanded and rebuilt in 1902 with eight apartments for rent). Marc Chagall also spent a significant part of his childhood in the house of his maternal grandfather Mendel Chernin and his wife Basheva (1844 -?), the artist's grandmother on his father's side), who by that time lived in the town of Liozno, 40 km from Vitebsk.

He received a traditional Jewish education at home, having studied the Hebrew language, the Torah and the Talmud.

From 1898 to 1905, Chagall studied at the 1st Vitebsk four-year school.

In 1906 he studied fine arts in art school Vitebsk painter Yudel Pan, then moved to St. Petersburg.

In St. Petersburg, for two seasons, Chagall studied at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, which was headed by N. K. Roerich (he was admitted to the school without an exam for the third year).

In 1909-1911 he continued his studies with L. S. Bakst at the private art school of E. N. Zvantseva. Thanks to his Vitebsk friend Viktor Mekler and Thea Brahman, the daughter of a Vitebsk doctor who also studied in St. Petersburg, Marc Chagall entered the circle of young intellectuals who were passionate about art and poetry.

Thea Brahman was educated and modern girl, several times she posed for Chagall naked.

In the autumn of 1909, during her stay in Vitebsk, Teya introduced Marc Chagall to her friend Bertha (Bella) Rosenfeld, who at that time was studying in one of the best educational institutions for girls - Guerrier school in Moscow. This meeting was decisive in the fate of the artist. The love theme in the work of Chagall is invariably associated with the image of Bella. From the canvases of all periods of his work, including the latest (after Bella's death), her "bulging black eyes" look at us. Her features are recognizable in the faces of almost all the women depicted by him.

In 1911, Chagall went to Paris on a scholarship, where he continued to study and met avant-garde artists and poets who lived in the French capital. Here he first began to use the personal name Mark. In the summer of 1914, the artist came to Vitebsk to meet with his family and see Bella. But the war began and the return to Europe was postponed indefinitely.

On July 25, 1915, Chagall married Bella. In 1916, their daughter Ida was born, who later became a biographer and researcher of her father's work.

In September 1915, Chagall left for Petrograd, joined the Military Industrial Committee. In 1916, Chagall joined the Jewish Society for the Encouragement of Arts, and in 1917 he returned to Vitebsk with his family. After the revolution, he was appointed authorized commissar for the arts of the Vitebsk province. On January 28, 1919, the Vitebsk Art School was opened by Chagall.

In 1920, Chagall left for Moscow, settled in a "house with lions" at the corner of Likhov Lane and Sadovaya. On the recommendation of A. M. Efros, he got a job at the Moscow Jewish Chamber Theater under the direction of Alexei Granovsky. He took part in the decoration of the theater: first he painted wall paintings for the auditoriums and the lobby, and then costumes and scenery, including "Love on Stage" with a portrait of a "ballet couple".

In 1921, the Granovsky Theater opened with the performance "Evening by Sholom Aleichem" designed by Chagall. In 1921, Marc Chagall worked as a teacher in the Jewish labor school-colony "III International" near Moscow for homeless children in Malakhovka.

In 1922, together with his family, he first went to Lithuania (his exhibition was held in Kaunas), and then to Germany. In the autumn of 1923, at the invitation of Ambroise Vollard, the Chagall family left for Paris.

In 1937, Chagall received French citizenship.

In 1941, the management of the Museum of Modern Art in New York invited Chagall to move from Nazi-controlled France to the United States, and in the summer of 1941 the Chagall family arrived in New York. After the end of the war, the Chagalls decided to return to France. However, on September 2, 1944, Bella died of sepsis at a local hospital. Nine months later, the artist painted two paintings in memory of his beloved wife: "Wedding Lights" and "Next to Her."

Relationship with Virginia McNeill-Haggard, the daughter of a former British consul in the United States, began when Chagall was 58 years old, Virginia - 30 with a little. They had a son, David (in honor of one of the Chagall brothers) McNeill. In 1947, Chagall arrived with his family in France. Three years later, Virginia, taking her son, unexpectedly ran away from him with her lover.

July 12, 1952 Chagall married "Vava" - Valentina Brodskaya, the owner of the London fashion salon and the daughter of the famous manufacturer and sugar producer Lazar Brodsky. But only Bella remained a muse all her life, until his death he refused to talk about her as if she were dead.

In 1960, Marc Chagall won the Erasmus Prize.

Since the 1960s, Chagall has mainly switched to monumental views art - mosaics, stained-glass windows, tapestries, and also became interested in sculpture and ceramics. In the early 1960s, commissioned by the Israeli government, Chagall created mosaics and tapestries for the parliament building in Jerusalem. After this success, he received many orders for the design of Catholic, Lutheran churches and synagogues throughout Europe, America and Israel.

In 1964, Chagall painted the ceiling of the Paris Grand Opera by order of French President Charles de Gaulle, in 1966 he created two panels for the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and in Chicago he decorated the building of the National Bank with the Four Seasons mosaic (1972).

In 1966, Chagall moved to a house built especially for him, which served at the same time as a workshop, located in the province of Nice - Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

In 1973, at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union, Chagall visited Leningrad and Moscow. He organized an exhibition in Tretyakov Gallery. The artist presented the Tretyakov Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin his works.

In 1977, Marc Chagall was awarded the highest award of France - the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, and in 1977-1978 an exhibition of the artist's works was held in the Louvre, timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the artist. Against all odds, the Louvre exhibited works by a still-living author.

Chagall died on March 28, 1985 at the age of 98 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Buried at the local cemetery. Until the end of his life, "Vitebsk" motifs were traced in his work. There is a "Chagall Committee", which includes four of his heirs. There is no complete catalog of the artist's works.

Birthday.

Childhood

On July 6, 1887 (June 24, old style) in Vitebsk, Moishe Segal was born into a simple Jewish family. His father Zakhar was a loader for a herring merchant, his mother Feiga-Ita kept a small shop, and his grandfather served as a teacher and cantor in the synagogue. As a child, Moishe attended an elementary Jewish religious school, then a gymnasium, despite the fact that in tsarist Russia Jewish children were forbidden to study in secular schools. At the age of nineteen, despite the categorical protests of his father, but thanks to the influence of his mother, Moishe entered the private "School of Painting and Drawing of the Artist Peng". He studied at this school for only two months, but that was the beginning. Bold start. Peng was so impressed with his daring color work that he allowed him to attend his school for free.

Here's a little about Yudel Moiseevich Pan . Russian and Belarusian painter, teacher, prominent figure"Jewish Renaissance" in the art of the early XX century. This is his self-portrait.

In his paintings, Yudel Pen showed the life of the Jewish poor (“Watchmaker”, “Old Tailor”, “Old Soldier”, “After the Strike”). After 1905, religious motifs appear in Pan's work - "Jewish Rabbi”, “Last Saturday". In the 1920s, he created the paintings "Shoemaker-Komsomol" (1925), "Matchmaker" (1926), "Seamstress" (1927), "Baker" (1928).

The artist was killed at his home in Vitebsk on the night of February 28 to March 1, 1937. The circumstances of the murder have not yet been clarified. By official version: killed by relatives who wanted to take possession of the inheritance. Buried at the Staro-Semenovskoye Cemetery in Vitebsk.

This is a portrait of Marc Chagall, under which is the signature "Yu. M. Peng" 1914

Moishe was the eldest of nine children, and all the household, as well as neighbors and merchants, and even ordinary peasants, were then his models. Wooden houses, onion churches, mother's grocery store, Jewish commandments, customs and holidays - this simple and difficult, but such a "substantial" life has forever flowed into the heart of the boy and the images of his beloved Vitebsk will be constantly repeated in the artist's work.

St. Petersburg

In 1907, with 27 rubles in his pocket, Moishe Segal went to the Russian capital. Since the Russian discriminatory policy towards Jews in St. Petersburg was much harsher, the young man was often forced to seek help from influential Jews. In addition, he was very limited in funds and lived in poverty, sometimes on the verge of poverty. But all these hardships, of course, had little meaning for young artist, caught in the whirlpool of the artistic life of the capital at the junction of two revolutions.

Public revolutionary moods are always embodied in cultural life- avant-garde magazines are published, which then served as a kind of unifying centers for new ideas, innovative exhibitions are organized, doors are opened for acquaintance with modern Western art: French Fauvism, German Expressionism, Italian Futurism and many other trends. All this makes a huge impression on the formation of a young artist.

But, learning and absorbing everything new, Moishe keeps away from various associations and groups, starting to form her own unique style.

In his early work ah, the search for their own pictorial language is already obvious. Fairy-tale and metaphoric images are already beginning to appear in everyday life plots: "Birth", "Death", "Holy Family".

Birth (1910) Death (1908)

Holy Family (1909)

For several years of his life in St. Petersburg, he studied at the private school of Seidenberg, worked in the editorial office of the Jewish magazine Voskhod, studied for two years with Lev Bakst at the Zvantseva school. According to Chagall, it was Bakst who gave him "to feel the breath of Europe" and encouraged him to go to study in Paris. Moisha also attended the class of the innovative artist Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. In the spring of 1910, the first exhibition was held in the editorial office of the avant-garde magazine Apollon.

Leon Nikolaevich Bakst (real name - Leib-Khaim Izrailevich, or Lev Samoilovich Rosenberg; 1866 - 1924) - Russian artist, set designer, book illustrator, master easel painting and theatrical graphics, one of the most prominent figures in the association "World of Art" and theatrical and artistic projects of S.P. Diaghilev.

Lev Rosenberg was born on February 8 (January 27), 1866 in Grodno in a poor Jewish family of a Talmudic scholar. After graduating from high school, he studied as a volunteer atAcademy of Arts by illustrating books.

At his first exhibition in 1889, he adopted the pseudonymBakst- shortened grandmother's surname (Baxter). From the mid-1990s, he joined the circle of writersand artists, formed around Diaghilev and Alexandra Benois , which later evolved into the association " World of Art ". In 1898 together with Diaghilev takes part in the founding of the publication of the same name. The graphics published in this magazine brought fame to Bakst.

The two most famous paintings Bakst.

Dinner Portrait of Zinaida Gippius

In the summer of 1909, in Vitebsk, Marc Chagall met Bella Rosenfeld, the daughter of a Vitebsk jeweler.
"... She is silent, so am I. She looks - oh, her eyes! - I, too. As if we have known each other for a long time and she knows everything about me: my childhood, my present life and what will happen to me; how - as if she was always watching me, she was somewhere nearby, although I saw her for the first time. And I realized: this is my wife. Eyes shine on her pale face. Big, bulging, black! These are my eyes, my soul ... " . Marc Chagall, "My Life".
They will marry on July 25, 1915 and Bella will forever remain his first lover, wife and muse.

Paris

In August 1910, Maxim Vinaver, a member of the State Duma of 1905 and a philanthropist, offered the artist a scholarship that would enable him to go to study in Paris. Upon arrival, Moishe Segal takes on a creative pseudonym. Now he is Marc Chagall, in the French manner.
The first year he rents a studio from the artist Ehrenburg in Montparnasse. Chagall attends various classes in free art academies, writes at night, and disappears during the day at exhibitions, in salons and galleries, absorbing the art of the great masters: Delacroix, Courbet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and many others. Perfectly feeling the color, he quickly masters and uses the techniques of Fauvism. "Now Your Colors Are Singing", - says his St. Petersburg mentor Bakst.

In 1911, Chagall moved to the "Beehive", a building bought by Alfred Boucher after a sale. World Exhibition 1889 and became a kind of squat-art center and a haven for many poor foreign artists. Here Chagall met many representatives of Parisian bohemia - poets, artists; here he masters the techniques of new trends - cubism, futurism, orphism, as always, reshaping them in his own way; here he makes his first real successes: "Violinist", "Dedication to my bride", "Golgotha", "View of Paris from the window".

Violinist. 1911 - 1914

"Dedication to my bride (My betrothed)" 1911

"Golgotha" 1912

"View of Paris from the window" 1913

Despite the complete, headlong immersion in the Parisian artistic environment, he did not forget his native Vitebsk. "Snuff Tobacco", "Cattle Seller", "Me and the Village" are permeated with nostalgia and love.

"Snuff Tobacco" 1912

"Seller of cattle" 1912

"Me and the Village" 1911

In the spring of 1914, Chagall was taking his works, several dozen canvases and about one hundred and fifty watercolors to exhibitions in Berlin. Several personal and joint exhibitions with other artists are held with great success with the public. Then he leaves for a visit to Vitebsk to meet his family and see Bella. But the first begins World War and the return to Europe is delayed indefinitely.

Russia

Bella's brother Yakov Rosenfeld helps to free Chagall from being drafted to the front and helps with work: the artist gets a place in the Military Industrial Committee in Petrograd. Chagall's work in these turbulent years is very multifaceted: visiting his native Vitebsk, he plunges into nostalgia and with new energy and new experience takes on everyday everyday motifs ("Window in the Village").

Window in the village. 1915

But there is a war going on, he sees the wounded, sees human sorrows and hardships, and also pours out his feelings on the canvas "War" in 1915.

He also sees how during the war years the persecution of Jews intensified and a number of very religious works were born.

"Red Jew" 1915

"Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)" 1916

The lyrical canvases created during these years are overflowing with love for Bella. Also at this time, Chagall begins to write an autobiographical book, My Life.

"Birthday" 1915

"Pink Lovers" 1916

"Walk" 1917 - 1918

"Bella in a white collar" 1917

August 9, 1918 In Petrograd, at a meeting dedicated to the establishment of the Ministry of Arts, Marc Chagall is offered the post of head of fine arts, but he refuses. However, with the assistance of Lunacharsky, he agrees to another proposal: the commissioner for arts in the Vitebsk province. Anniversary October revolution, as it turned out, an excellent organizer, Chagall decorated Vitebsk with great enthusiasm, "bringing art to the masses." Also at this time, his article "Revolution in Art" is published. The Free Academy, which has become a major creative center, operates in full force under his leadership in Vitebsk. It teaches many famous artists, locals and visitors. But, one day, returning from Moscow, Chagall discovers that the Free Academy has been turned into the Academy of Suprematism. This was the first result of the growing discontent on the part of the new government.

In 1920, Mark, with Bella and their daughter Ida, who was born to them in 1916, moved to Moscow, where he took an active part in the theatrical life of the capital - preparing sketches of scenery for performances. A staunch opponent of Suprematist art, Chagall, at the same time, being at the center of new cultural trends, significantly reconsiders his own style of writing, in many respects moving closer to the new, "revolutionary" style. However, party criticism, which is also facilitated by the artist's frankness and uncompromisingness, is increasing, although it does not yet take open forms, after all, Chagall is an artist of world renown and this has to be reckoned with.

On January 1, 1921, the premiere of the performance "Miniatures" based on the plays of the recently deceased famous Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem takes place. On this occasion, Chagall is entrusted with the design of a small hall in which it is planned to present the production. He paints the walls, the ceiling, and the curtain with nine monumental paintings, which, according to the artist, are a call for the cultural revival of the Jewish theater. " ...Finally, I can turn around and express what I consider necessary for the revival national theater ". But his step remained misunderstood, attacks and criticism from the "truly revolutionary" artists and the party were growing, and a year later the People's Committee of Education sent Chagall to teach drawing in a colony for the homeless. Misunderstanding and rejection by the regime forced the artist to leave the country.

France

After Chagall's departure, Bella and Ida live for a year in Berlin, which has become a haven for emigrants from Russia and other countries. At first, the artist tries to get the money owed to him for the 1914 exhibition, but to no avail - inflation has done its job. All that he manages to return is three paintings and a dozen watercolors.
In the spring of 1923, Paul Cassirer, a Berlin publisher and gallery owner, invited the artist to publish the book "My Life" with author's illustrations. Chagall accepts the offer and plunges headlong into mastering the art of engraving. And at the end of the summer of the same year, a letter arrives from his old Parisian friend: "Come back, you are famous. Vollard is waiting for you."
Returning to Paris, Chagall discovers another loss: most of the paintings for which he is now known, left in the "Hive" eight years ago, are lost. He gathers his strength and carefully, restoring from memory, drawings and reproductions, re-writes part of the works of the first Parisian period: "Birthday", "Me and the Village", "Over Vitebsk" and others.

Ambroise Vollard, a passionate book lover, collector, publisher, after the war, plans to release a series of books illustrated by famous contemporary artists and offers Chagall cooperation. Chagall chooses " Dead Souls"Gogol and copes with the task perfectly. The metaphorical-fantastic graphics of the master perfectly reflects Gogol's sharp satire.

In Paris, Chagall reconnects with old friends and makes new ones. Being a very sociable and cheerful person, he easily finds a common language with everyone, but this does not prevent him, as usual, from staying away from various movements and associations. On the offer of the surrealists to join them, he refuses: "deliberately fantastic painting is alien to me." He bypasses charters, manifestos and slogans, preferring the pure freedom of creativity.
Fame brought him material freedom - now he travels with his family in France and European countries, finding a sense of peace and tranquility after everything he has experienced. New paintings are joyful, bright and light: " Country life"," Double portrait "," Ida at the window ".

"Village life" 1925

Double portrait with a glass of wine

I must say that during this period he creates not so many paintings, since most of the time and effort he devotes to illustrating" dead souls", "Fables" by La Fontaine and the Bible.

In 1931, the artist and his family visit Palestine, discovering the land of their ancestors and feeling close to the center of their faith. These few months spent in the Holy Land, according to the artist, made the strongest impression on him in his entire life. Returning to Paris, he embarks on a new project, illustrating the Bible, in which, already established as an artist and as a person, he ponders and realizes biblical symbols and plots on etchings.

Outside the window - the end of the 30s. Hitler's speeches and the clatter of Nazi boots are already clearly heard from Germany. New anti-Semitic laws are being adopted, an exhibition "Degenerate Art" is being held in Munich, which also presents the work of Chagall. Europe is again plunged into the darkness of war. Thanks to the help of the Emergency Committee for Rescue and the American Consul in Marseilles, Chagall, with his family and paintings, sails on a ship to the USA.

USA

In America, which has received many emigrants from Europe, there is a sharp increase in interest in European culture. In New York, which has become a kind of port for refugees, exhibitions are organized, united common theme"art in exile". Pierre Matisse, son famous artist, provides Chagall with his gallery for work and exhibitions. Chagall is working at this time mainly on unfinished paintings brought from the Old World.
In the spring of 1942, Leonid Myasin, choreographer and former dancer of the Russian Ballet, invites Chagall to take part in the design of the ballet Aleko. The artist completed the back decorations and four huge colorful backgrounds, recreating the fabulous atmosphere of Pushkin's poem. Chagall is also ordered to design the play "The Firebird" by George Balanchine, but Igor Stravinsky did not like his scenery and preference was given to Picasso. But the costumes designed by Chagall, which were made by Ida, were accepted.

In August 1944, the Chagall family is happy to learn about the liberation of Paris. The war is drawing to a close and they can't wait to return to France as soon as possible. But just a few days later, on September 2, Bella dies of sepsis in a local hospital. "Everything is covered in darkness." The artist is completely stunned by the grief that has overtaken him, and only nine months later he picks up brushes to paint two paintings in memory of his beloved: "Wedding Lights" and "Next to Her."

"Wedding Lights" 1945

He moves to a small house in the town of High Falls, where after a while he begins to work on illustrations for "A Thousand and One Nights". The result is thirteen wonderful sparkling engravings, with their colorful richness in perfect harmony with the Arabian tales.

France

In 1945, Ida invited Virginia McNeill-Haggard, a French translator and daughter of the former British consul, to help. Virginia was almost half the age of the artist, but outwardly she somehow resembled Bella. Chagall could not stand being alone. And a romance broke out between them. Their son David (David) McNeill was born in 1946. Virginia lived with Chagall for about 7 years, moved with him to Paris, but then left the artist with her son. Thanks to success in the United States, including financial success, in 1948 Chagall finally manages to finally move to such an already native and dear to my heart France. Unfortunately, Vollard, a friend and regular customer of the artist, dies at the beginning of the war. However, the Parisian publisher Terjad buys Vollard's legacy and finally publishes Chagall's many years of work in the field of book design. Thanks to this, Gogol's Dead Souls was published in 1948, Lafontaine's Fables in 1952, and the Bible in French in 1956. The biblical theme would constantly accompany the artist's work and Chagall would return to it during the later period of his life. In addition to 105 etchings (1935-1939 and 1952-1956) for the edition of the French Bible, he will create many more paintings, engravings, drawings, ceramic images, stained-glass windows, tapestries on biblical themes. All this will make up the "Biblical message" of the artist to the world, especially for which in 1973 in Nice Chagall will open a kind of museum, and the French government recognizes this "temple" as official national museum.

In 1952, the artist met Valentina Brodskaya, who became simply "Vava" and the artist's official wife. Their marriage turns out to be happy, although Bella still remains the muse of the artist. In the 1950s, Chagall traveled a lot with his family, including the Mediterranean - Greece and Italy. He admires the Mediterranean culture: frescoes, the works of icon painters, all this inspires the artist to create color lithographs for the work of the ancient Greek writer Long "Dafins and Chloe" (1960-1962), as well as to the monumental techniques of frescoes and stained glass. Since the 1960s, Chagall has mainly switched to monumental art forms - mosaics, stained-glass windows, tapestries, and is also fond of sculpture and ceramics. In the early 1960s, commissioned by the Israeli government, Chagall created mosaics and tapestries for the parliament building in Jerusalem. After this success, he becomes a kind of "Andrey Rublev" of his time and receives many orders for the design of Catholic, Lutheran churches and synagogues throughout Europe, America and Israel.

In 1964, Chagall painted the ceiling of the Paris Grand Opera by order of French President Charles de Gaulle himself, in 1966 he created two panels for the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and in Chicago he decorated the building of the National Bank with the Four Seasons mosaic (1972).

"Master painting for the Paris Opera" 1963 - 1964

In 1966, Chagall moved to a house built especially for him, which served at the same time as a workshop, located in the province of Nice - in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. In 1973, at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union, Chagall visited Leningrad and Moscow. He is organizing an exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery. The artist donates several of his works to the USSR. In 1977, Marc Chagall was awarded the highest award of France - the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, and in 1977-1978 an exhibition of the artist's works was held in the Louvre, timed to coincide with the artist's 90th birthday. Contrary to all the rules, the works of a still living author were exhibited in the Louvre!

Before last days Chagall continued to paint, make mosaics, stained glass, sculptures, ceramics, and work on scenery for theater productions. March 28, 1985, at the age of 98, Marc Chagall died in an elevator, rising after a day of work in the studio. He died "in flight", as a gypsy once predicted to him, and how he depicted himself flying in his paintings.

Gallery of paintings by Marc Chagall

Walk

Les Amoureux En Gris huile sur toile

Above the city

me and the village

flying wagon

Soldier

soldiers

Livestock seller

Le Saint Cocher de fiacre

La Naissance

Dedié à ma fiancée

De la Lune, Le Village Russe

la marchande de pain

Le Songe

Le Peintre et les Fiances

Sky of Paris

La Reine du Cirque

King David

Evening by the window

La Madonne du village

Bonjour Paris

Aleko

Le Village en Feu

Les Maries de la tour Eiffel

L "Acrobat

village russe

Les Amoureux

L "Ecuyère de Cirque

Juif a la Torah Gouache

la maison blue

Bella au col blanc

Autoportrait à la Palette

Mania en mangeant Kasher

Le Poete allonge

Le Juif en Rouge

Birthday

Le Violonniste

To understand Chagall Mark Zakharovich, a brief biography may not be enough. Therefore, I will introduce you not just to the dates, but to the way of life, thoughts, experiences, creativity. Although there is no complete catalog of works and the number of all masterpieces is not known for certain, I will show the most famous canvases that have been exciting the minds of people around the world for more than a decade.

Biography

The real name of Marc Chagall is Moses Khatskelevich Chagall. The artist is of Belarusian-Jewish origin, was born in Vitebsk on July 7, 1887. He had Russian and French citizenship, lived a significant part of his life in his native city, St. Petersburg, Moscow, he also liked life in the Provence of France. In addition, he worked in the USA, Israel, and many European countries. The appearance of Vitebsk and nearby villages, provincial life, folklore - these images, motifs passed through all the artist's work, wherever he was.

Mark began painting as a child. So his first teacher - Yudel Pen - a prominent figure in the "Jewish Renaissance" in the art of the early twentieth century. Further, his education continued already in St. Petersburg. As the artist himself wrote: “... I, a ruddy and curly-haired youth, go to St. Petersburg with a friend. It's decided!" To say that his father supported his decision would not be true, but at the same time he did not delay him by force in Vitebsk. He gave 27 rubles and promised that he was not going to help in the future.

In St. Petersburg, Marc Chagall studied under the guidance of Nicholas Roerich at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. Then there was the private school of Elizaveta Zvantseva, where he took classes from Lev Bakst. The teacher recognized the young man's talent and paid for his art education. Although it cannot be said that there were no disagreements between them, so in response to Bakst's words that Chagall's line is crooked and he will not soon become a true artist, Mark, leaving, told the teacher that he was a talented fool, and Marc Chagall was a genius. At the same time, Bakst immediately laid siege to Chagall - his work will not take root in Russia. But, fortunately, the artist had the opportunity to find out what impression his paintings would make on the European audience as early as 1911. It was then that he received a scholarship from Maxim Vinaver and went to Paris. While studying at the Academie de la Palette, Chagall was influenced by cubism. But at the same time, critics noted that the works of the avant-garde artist differ from the “arrogant” paintings of the Cubists.

In 1913, the first personal exhibition of the artist in Paris opened at the Maria Vasilyeva Academy. In the same year, the canvases were shown at the First German Autumn Salon in Berlin.

After an exhibition in Germany, the artist Marc Chagall returns to Vitebsk. He was not going to stay in his hometown for a long time, his then goal was to get married and take his beloved with him to Europe. But the plans did not materialize. The beginning of the First World War, closed Russian borders. After the genius of his time worked in the theater - his path was eventful and unpredictable. The years of Marc Chagall's life often depended on some kind of providence, but without this there would not have been such bright and meaningful paintings written by a genius. The artist died on March 28, 1985 in Provence, France, rising to his studio.

Personal life

Mark's friends during his studies in St. Petersburg are young intellectuals who are passionate about poetry and art. In these circles, he met his first wife and, no matter how pathetic it may sound, the muse of his life - Bella Rosenfeld. The artist's contemporaries characterize him as an overly charming person with a smile that was conducive to heart-to-heart conversations. That's just such an open person and appeared before Bella.

Returning to Russia after living in France, in 1915 Mark married Bella. A year later, the couple had a daughter, who later became a researcher of her father's work, his biographer. Later, the artist married again. In total, he had three wives, including one civilian, but his heart was always devoted to Bella.

The work of Marc Chagall

"The Gravity Breaker" is exactly what the screenwriter and playwright Dmitry Minchenko called Marc Chagall, who studied the life and work of the artist, was familiar with his family and friends.

Oddly enough, but realist artists have always argued that Chagall can not write. There is a lot of irrational, metaphorical, sometimes even expressive in his works.

Psychoanalytically, Mark Zakharovich had a violent love for the color red. People who have studied his work believe that this is due to the fact that the artist was born in a fire. Not far from the house where he was going to be born, buildings caught fire. And so the woman in labor was carried away from the fire. In such confusion, a genius was born. At one time, Picasso, looking at the paintings of Marc Chagall, said: "You are doing well in life, but the red is too rough." As Chagall said, he himself did not immediately realize the meaning of his "rough" red. Only with time did he explain that such a color palette appeared during his life, overflowing with experiences, thoughts about the proximity of death.

Very characteristic works of Chagall during the First World War, but it cannot be said that they were “permeated with the spirit of struggle” or something like that. In 1915, Mark Zakharovich got married, so most of the works are confirmation of a happy marriage. At this time, the paintings "Birthday", "Double portrait with a glass of wine" appeared. Although the artist sometimes raised the social problems of society in his works, they were all written out allegorically.

Marc Chagall liked to depict references to proverbs and various folk wisdom on his canvases, thus he emphasized attachment to the people, to their mind, and at the same time, as if he was starting a game with the viewer. In this case, it is not surprising that the imagery of thought is what people need to perceive paintings.

If you want to know what Marc Chagall himself thought about himself and those around him, his genius, I recommend reading the autobiographical book “My Life”. It is publicly available on the Internet.

Marc Chagall - paintings with names

"White crucifix", 1938

The painting is an allegory for the persecution of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. When Mark Zakharovich fell into depression, he was born complicated relationship with reality, he began to paint a crucifix. At the time when the artist lived, a crucifix painted by a Jew was equal to zero, no one ever bought it. And Vava (Valentina Brodskaya, Chagall's second legal wife) told her husband that it was worth painting flowers, for which there would definitely be a demand.

"Walk", 1917

The picture was written in the first two years of life with his wife Bella Rosenfeld. The canvas depicts a kind of lyrical flight, in which the desire to soar up, away from everyday life, the revolution is conveyed. The eternal theme of love is revealed. Chagall wrote in his autobiography that "an artist sometimes needs to be in diapers" - to see everything with the open eyes of a child. Also in this picture, the proverb “Better a titmouse in the hands than a crane in the sky” is beaten. Mark in the picture holds a bird in his right lowered hand, while in his left he grabbed the "crane" - Bella. The artist probably wants to say that the choice does not always have to be made.

"Bella in a white collar", 1917

The painting depicts Bella, who towers over everything, including the life of the artist. It symbolizes the omnipresence of the image of the beloved.

"I and the village", 1911

The picture is woven from various fragments-memories, which individually give rise to different associations, but necessarily associated with Vitebsk.

"Self-portrait with seven fingers", 1913

An eccentric portrait-interpretation of the Jewish proverb about the jack of all trades. The picture is a joke on his own skill.

"Over the city", 1918

This is the third picture of the triptych from the canvases "Double portrait with a glass of wine", "Walk" and actually "Lovers above the city". She is the epitome of the “fly with happiness” metaphor. The author depicted in the picture all the most important things in that period of his life - family well-being with Bella and hometown of Marc Chagall- Vitebsk.

"Reclining Nude", 1911

Mark Zakharovich liked to paint naked women, a similar image can be found more than once on his canvases. He admired perfection and absolute beauty. The artist's relatives said that he himself sometimes liked to paint completely naked in the studio, which gave openness to ideas, increased susceptibility.

"Violinist", 1923-1924

The plot of the picture is characterized by the word "too", adding to it "saturated", "unusual", "colorful". This characterizes a certain dynamics of the canvas, its internal energy.

Category

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 Bulbash® brand, 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. During this period of his life, he met new directions for himself. art: 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."

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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 the whole human life. In this picture there are almost all seasons of the year: on 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 certain 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 artistic technique: 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", "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 paintings. 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.

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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 are 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 external world should not chop down the creator of his peaceful flight of fancy.

"White crucifix", 1938

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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 green figure with a bag on his back. 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

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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 multi-layered, 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 devoted to 12 famous masters 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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