Make Lemonade Kind of Artist
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall survived being stuck behind enemy lines during two world wars, being persecuted for his religion, the death or divorce of several wives, yet he produced art like a mad man, mastered several art mediums and still he had enough money and foresight to leave a legacy for future artists.
1920 by Pierre Choumoff
Born Marc Zarkharovich Chagall, July 7, 1887 was a Russian-French artist raised in a small Hassidic village on the outskirts of Vitebsk, Belarus. His Jewish roots would always be very important to him and would prove problematic later on in his life.
Chagall showed interest and talent in art as a child and began his art studies at an all Jewish art school at age 19. He left several months into his studies to go to St. Petersburg in 1907 to study at the Imperial Society for the Protection of Fine Arts.
In 1911 Chagall received an allowance from Russian Parliamentarian and patron Maxim Binaver and was able to move to Paris, France to study. Chagall originally landed in the Montparnasse neighborhood, but soon moved to an artist colony known as LaRuche, The Beehive. Working alongside painters such as Amedeo Modigliani and Fernand Léger as well as the avant-arde poet Guillaume Apollinaire, these artist encouraged Chagall to lighten his palette and embrace Fauvism and Cubism and to push his style even further from reality. Possibly
his most notable work, I and the Village was produced during this time in 1911.
Chagall's work has a dreamy style and he is not afraid to push the envelope, remembering this was 1911. While the salon's of Paris were loosening up their death grip on controlling the art world at the time, Chagall's work was embraced and maligned at the same time. Lucky for him, more embraced his work initially but it did fall out of favor later on.
The Fiddler
became the inspiration for the musical The Fiddler on the Roof.
In 1914 Chagall had gained fame beyond Paris and traveled to Berlin to organize his first solo exhibition at Der Sturm Gallery. Chagall remained in Berlin until after the highly acclaimed show in June when he returned to Vitebsk. In August Chagall was trapped in Vitebsk when World War 1 broke out. He remained there until 1923. This is where the "making lemonade" came into his life. Chagall never let his circumstances detract from his inner desire to create art. He continued to work even as WWI raged on. It was there in 1915 he married long time love Bella and a year later she gave birth to their daughter Ida. Bella and Ida would be subjects of his art for years to come. In order to avoid military service and stay with his young family, Chagall took a position as a clerk in the Ministry of War Economy in St. Petersburg. Chagall continued working as an artist and did shows and gained notoriety. All that helped in the aftermath of the Russian revolution when he was appointed to be the Commissar of Fine Arts in Vitebsk. In 1919 he founded the Academy of the Arts in Vitebsk but became disillusioned when he and his colleagues had serious disagreements and in 1920 he relinquished his position and moved to Moscow.
While there he was commissioned to create sets and costumes for a Yiddish theatrical group which proved extremely helpful at a later time in life.
Bella in a White Collar
1917
Chagall never seemed to be unwilling or unable to change gears and go with the flow. Each time circumstances forced him in a direction, he always seemed to make the very best of it which later proved to be to his advantage.
Chagall left Russia for good in 1922 and took his family to Berlin where he unsuccessfully tried to recover his work from the show 8 years prior. In 1923 he moved his family to Paris.
Chagall began work on a commission of etchings almost immediately upon his return and worked on a number of different projects.
As Chagall's notoriety spread across Europe, so was Fascism and Nazism. You can see where this was headed. During the "Cultural Cleansing" by the Nazi's in Germany, Chagall's work was removed from several German museums, burned and was included in the 1937 exhibition of degenerate art in Munich. Chagall was forced to move his family several times after World War II broke out and was able to flee to America after MOMA, Museum of Modern Art added his name to a list of Jewish artists in most peril. Chagall was one of 2000 artists who received a visa and was able to escape certain incarceration.
When Chagall arrived in America in 1941 he did not realize he already had a large following and audience there. Despite the language barrier he connected with an exiled European artist community. Within a year, Chagall was again commissioned to create sets and costumes for a ballet.
Chagall's art would reflect world events as he worried about the fate of other fellow Jews in Europe and the destruction of Russia. In 1944 Chagall's wife, Bella, died of a viral infection, which left him devastated for years to come. His grief was also represented in his work.
In 1945 Chagall began the set design and costumes for Igor Stavinsky's production of the ballet The Firebird, which ran from 1949 through 1965. He also became involved with a young English artist, Virginia and in 1946 she gave birth to their son David. During this same time Chagall had showings at MOMA and the Art Institute of Chicago.
After 7 years in exile Chagall returned to France in 1948 with Virginia and David and Jean, a daughter of Virginia's from a previous marriage. In 1950 Chagall moved his family to the French Riviera and the next year Virginia left him. In 1952 Chagall met and married Valentina Brodsky and she also became his manager.
Having established himself as a serious painter, Chagall began to move into other mediums as he explored ceramics and sculpture and mastered stained glass.
Ceramic plate titled Moses
This stained glass is in Metz, France.
This stained glass is titled Peace and is at the U.N. in NYC.
Websites used to create this article are:
https://www.biography.com/people/marc-chagall-9243488
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Chagall
I hope you enjoyed learning about Marc Chagall as much as I did. I found his life fascinating as he was not the tortured soul that many artists were. He went about his work of creating art regardless of his surroundings and I believe he truly made lemonade out of the lemons he was given. He worked up until his death and his work can be seen in synagogues, churches, museums and other places of notoriety throughout the world.
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Thank for stopping by today and have a great weekend.
I have dnjoyed all this series but there is a flow and perceptive insights that makes this my favorite so far.
ReplyDeleteWell thanks so much Julie! He was kind of like peeling back the onion. So many layers of his life and art.
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