Marc Chagall

Marc Chagall is a Russian painter who eas born in Vitebsk in 1887 from an humble Jewish family. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Saint Petersburg where he knew the art of Cézanne, Gauiguin and Van Gogh. In 1910 he moved to Paris where he met intellectuals and artists like Apollinaire, Robert Delaunay e Fernand Léger. His painting was a little influenced by Cubsm but hs style is more similar to Amedeo Modigliani's one. In 1914 he came back to Russia where he started exhibiting hs paintings and in 1917 he actively participated in Russian Revolution. From this experience he was been appointed commissar of arts for Vitebsk. He founded an Academy in his city but he left it one year later because of dissensions with supprematists. In 1919 he went to Moscow where he started writing his autobiography.

In 1922 he came back to Paris and he realized wonderful illustrations for literary works: Dead Souls by Gogol, Fables by La Fontaine and The Holy Bible. He was considered a degenerated artist by the Nazi regime and many works of him were bruned at Mannheim. In '40s he travelled to USA but when he came back he fell in the dumps because of the death of his wife Ida. In 1944 he estabilished in Provence and here we found again the joie de vivre, brilliant colours and a fabulous language. During these years he realized also sculptures and potteries. The art of Marc Chagall always remains linked to his origins. The protagonists of his paintings are Russian villages, countries and traditions, Jewish rituals and childhood memories. His fabulous and dreaming style is lightly influenced by Cubism and Fauvism. Soft and sinuous figures represent his never forgotten past: naivety and fantastic worlds make his composition fairy tales. Chagall died at Saint-Paul-de-Vence in 1985.