Marc Chagall

Marc Chagall was born on July 6, 1887, in Liozna, near Vitebsk, Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire. His father was a herring merchant and his mother ran a grocery store. He was the eldest of nine children in a devout Jewish family. He attended a Jewish elementary school and a Russian public school, where he learned the basics of drawing. He also studied painting with a local artist, Yehuda Pen, and in 1907 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he joined the school of the Society of Art Supporters and studied under Leon Bakst. In 1910, he received a scholarship from a patron and went to Paris, where he lived in an artistic colony called La Ruche ("The Beehive"). There he met many avant-garde artists and writers, such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, and Blaise Cendrars. He developed his own style of modern art, combining elements of Cubism, Symbolism, and Fauvism, with references to his Jewish heritage and Eastern European folklore. He created some of his most famous paintings during this period, such as I and the Village (1911), The Fiddler (1912), and Paris Through the Window (1913). He also experimented with different media, such as book illustrations, prints, and stained glass. In 1914, he returned to Vitebsk to marry his fiancée, Bella Rosenfeld, whom he had met in 1909. He intended to stay for a short time, but the outbreak of World War I prevented him from going back to Paris. He remained in Vitebsk, where he witnessed the Russian Revolution of 1917. He became an active participant in the cultural life of the city, founding an art school and directing the art department of the local Soviet. He also painted several murals for public buildings, such as the theatre, the library, and the courthouse. However, he soon faced opposition from the radical avant-garde, who favoured abstract art over his colourful and figurative style. He left Vitebsk in 1920 and moved to Moscow, where he worked on stage designs for the Jewish Theatre. In 1922, he left Russia with his wife and daughter, Ida, and settled in Berlin, where he published his autobiography, My Life, and a collection of lithographs, Mein Leben ("My Life"). In 1923, he returned to Paris, where he resumed his artistic career. He became a prominent member of the School of Paris, a group of artists who worked in the city between the two world wars. He also became friends with the Surrealists, who admired his dreamlike imagery and poetic expression. He continued to explore various themes and techniques, such as the circus, lovers, animals, flowers, and the Eiffel Tower. He also created works inspired by the Bible, such as the etchings for the book The Bible (1931-1939) and the paintings for the Biblical Message series (1956-1966). He also worked on commissions for public and private buildings, such as the ceiling of the Paris Opera (1964), the windows of the United Nations headquarters in New York (1964), the windows of the Fraumünster church in Zurich (1970), and the windows of the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem (1962). He also designed costumes and sets for ballets and operas, such as Aleko (1942), The Firebird (1945), Daphnis and Chloe (1958), and The Magic Flute (1967). He also created tapestries, ceramics, and sculptures, such as The Lovers (1970) and The Flying Lovers (1977). He travelled extensively, visiting the United States, Israel, Greece, Italy, and Spain. He received many honours and awards, such as the Legion of Honour (1957), the Grand Prix of the Venice Biennale (1964), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985). He died on March 28, 1985, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, at the age of 97. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most original artists of the 20th century, whose work influenced many artistic movements and genres. He is also celebrated as a major Jewish artist, whose work reflects his deep connection to his roots and his empathy for the suffering and joy of his people.