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Artist Profile: Marc Chagall
December 10, 2024
Marc Zakharovich Chagall (born Moishe Shagall, 1887 - 1985) was a Jewish artist born in Russia (modern-day Belarus). As one of the most successful artists of the twentieth century, he forged a unique career in virtually every artistic medium, including painting, book illustration, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, tapestries, and fine art prints. Known for his unique style, his artwork included themes of animals, village life, Jewish imagery, symbolism, flying figures, and dreamlike imagery. Growing up, Chagall experienced discrimination for his religion, attending a non-Jewish high school. Yet it was at this school that he first discovered his love for creating art that would lead him to become an artist. He spent the next decade living in Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. He lived in Russia through the Russian Revolution, before eventually moving to Paris with his family.
In Paris, Chagall painted scenes of Jewish and Russian country life in a non-realistic artistic style and was a stage designer for the Jewish Chamber Theater. It was here that he changed his name to Marc Chagall since he thought it sounded more French. Meanwhile in Germany, the Nazis were coming to power. In 1937, the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda confiscated more than 16,000 works of art that they considered too modern, too “Jewish”, and degenerate. As a result of Chagall’s subject matter and style, many of Chagall’s pieces were taken from various museums and displayed in the 1937 Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich. Of the 112 artists shown in the exhibition, only six of them were Jewish.
When the Nazis invaded France in 1940, Chagall first believed that he
and his family would be safe. Then, as anti-Semitic laws were passed
and state-organized violence against Jewish populations began to
occur, Chagall realized the danger that he and his family faced.
Fleeing France to seek refuge in America was expensive, but thanks to
assistance from the Emergency Rescue Committee (later the
International Rescue Committee), an underground operation to help
French writers, artists, and other intellectuals who were at risk,
Chagall and his wife were able to escape to New York City. Much of his
art was saved by his daughter, Ida, who was able to bring it to New
York City as she and her husband fled for their own safety. The
Chagalls found refuge in New York City, where Marc Chagall remained
until the end of the war. In September 1944, after the sudden death of
his wife, Bella, Marc Chagall entered a mourning period and stopped
painting until April 1945, when news of the Holocaust began to spread.
Chagall felt compelled to respond to this tragedy through art. After
the war, he returned to France, where he created artwork that promoted
peace and healing, including the stained-glass windows for which he is
well-known
Explore more work by Marc Chagall in the collection.
Marc Chagall, Nature Morte Brune (Brown Still Life), color
lithograph, 1957, 2013.68.10.
Marc Chagall, The Sources of Music, color lithograph, 2021.33.1973.
Marc Chagall, Composition Fantastique (Fantastic
Composition), color lithograph, 1976, 2013.68.9.