Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Russia in 1887. After studying in St Petersburg he went to Paris in 1910 where he met and became friendly with the avant-garde circle which included Soutine, Leger and Modigliani. In 1917 he returned to his native Vitebsk where he was made director and Commissar of Fine Art. However, the element of fantasy in his work caused problems with the authorities who were happier with realism and a social message so he went to Moscow where he spent some time designing for the newly founded Jewish Theatre.
Returning to Paris in 1923, he met the great art-dealer Vollard, for whom he illustrated Gogol’s ‘Dead Souls’ and the ‘Fables of La Fontaine’. Between 1941-47 he moved from occupied France to the USA but then returned to France, eventually making his home at St-Paul-de-Vence near Nice. New York’s Museum of Modern Art gave him a retrospective in 1946.
Chagall was a prolific painter and book illustrator, also designing for theatre and stained glass. His work was dominated by his memories of his Jewish life and bible stories and also of the folklore of his early years in Russia. Marc Chagall’s best-known works include a window for New York’s United Nations building and murals for its Metropolitan Opera House. The Louvre, Paris, exhibited Chagall in 1977.
At his finest, Chagall was one of the great masters of the School of Paris. Chagall died aged 98 in 1985. His work has been increasingly collectable since his death.
