Marc Chagall’s First Exhibition in China
Picasso was truly unreserved in his praise for Chagall, commenting: “When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what colour is…his canvases are really painted, not just thrown together. Some of the last things he’s done in Vence (a small town in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France) convince me that there’s never been anybody since Renoir who has the feeling for light that Chagall has.”
While boundless and unrestrained, Chagall’s imagination was also capable of imparting a deep sense of intimacy upon viewers, and was inextricably linked to the wealth of experiences he accumulated throughout his life. He once said: “I want to look back on just how beneficial my travels outside of France have been on my art, be it to the Netherlands, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, or even the South of France. It was there in the south that, for the first time in my life, I saw such a verdant shade of green, a green that I had never seen in my own land. I think that in the Netherlands, I discovered a familiar and yet pulsating light, like the light between afternoon and dusk. In Italy, I discovered the tranquillity of museums, brought to life by the light of the sun. In Spain, I joyously found inspiration in its mysterious, though sometimes brutal past, and I found its skies and its folk songs. And in the East (Palestine) I unexpectedly came to find the Bible and a piece of my own life.”
This inaugural exhibition of Marc Chagall’s work in China showcases the artist’s creative style and artistic maturation vividly and in great detail. Organised into the five sections of “Love, Nostalgia, the World of Fantasy, and the Circus”, “The Fables of La Fontaine”, “The Allure of Paris”, “The Power of Faith”, and “Life’s End is a Bouquet”, the exhibition comprises of 155 works executed in oil, watercolour, gouache, tempera, and etching, among other mediums. The exhibition spans a period of almost 60 years, from 1925 to 1981, in which time Chagall created such classic works as The Purple Rooster, Lovers with Bouquet, and Russian Village. In addition to these works are over one hundred prints taken from three sets of series: The Fables of La Fontaine, the Bible Series, and the Paris Fantastique series, each of which demonstrate a masterful combination of innovation and metaphor.
With a vision of truth, virtue, and beauty, Chagall embraced everything that happened in his life, whether it occurred in reality, or if it played out in his dreams, tirelessly recounting to us the wonderful stories that took place between the two without the slightest hint of concealment. With a certain innocence and sincerity, Chagall expresses his perception of the primal life force and beauty present in all things in the natural world. In this unique period, we hope to take this exhibition as an opportunity, and through the works of Chagall, to be able to unfold a vivid childlike dreamscape to the public, to lead people through the realms of reality and imagination, and to awaken in people a fresh hope and expectation for a life of beauty.
This exhibition is comprised of a total of 28 original works, including classic works such as The Purple Rooster, Lovers with Bouquet, and Russian Village. In addition, there are more than one hundred works taken from three sets of series: The Fables of La Fontaine, the Bible Series, and the Paris Fantastique series, with the most famous among these being the complete set of etchings created by Chagall for the eponymous French literary classic, The Fables of La Fontaine, with each work demonstrating a masterful combination of innovation and metaphor, constructing dream like fairy-tale worlds. The exhibition spans a period of almost 60 years, from 1925 to 1981, showcasing the artist’s dynamic engagement with different creative forms and mediums, as well as the perennial themes that marked the course of his life, such as love, nostalgia, and deep-rooted ethnic beliefs.
About the artist
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was a renowned Russian-French artist of Belarusian-Jewish descent. Moving between various schools such as Impressionism, Cubism, and Abstract Expressionism, Chagall’s body of work encompassed mediums such as painting, drawing, stained glass, stagecraft, and ceramics. Chagall’s paintings display symbolic techniques and dreamlike colours.
Chagall was born to a Jewish family, and early Jewish thought became a deeply rooted wellspring of ideas for him. With their meagre income, Chagall’s parents raised ten children in impoverished conditions. In addition to the poverty in which he lived, religious traditions that strictly prohibited the drawing of images should have blocked Chagall’s path to becoming a painter. However, the rich cultural traditions of Hasidism and the natural landscape of his hometown provided him with ample materials for creation. The dark wooden houses, superstitious villagers, violin players, as well as the animals like cows, sheep, and chickens that he saw as a child would all go on to become sources of inspiration for Chagall.
In primary school, Chagall saw illustrations in classmates’ books, and, upon returning home, would imitate these illustrations and reorganise them as he imagined, thus starting him down the path of becoming a painter. He would later study painting at the studio of a local realist painter named Yehuda Pen. In 1907, Chagall came to St. Petersburg and studied intermittently for a period of three years, until eventually enrolling in Léon Baskt’s art school. From Baskt, Chagall learnt about the Parisian art world and he began to yearn for the city. In 1910, he went to France alone and took the name Marc Chagall.
While in France, Chagall was successively influenced by movements such as Post-impressionism, Expressionism, and Cubism. By making use of confident linework and strong colours, Chagall blended together Futurism, Cubism, and Suprematism to form his own distinctly personal fantasy art style.
300meters south of the intersection of Jinyuan Road and Xinkai Road,Langfang Economic and Technological Development Area, Hebei Province (click here)