What mysteries are hidden in "Self-portrait with seven fingers" by Marc Chagall

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

this virtuoso who holds his palette and brushes as if they were violin and bow? Why does he have seven fingers? These and many other mysteries are fraught with "Self-portrait with seven fingers" by Marc Chagall, an artist of three cultures.

About the artist

Marc Chagall was born in 1887 in Belarus (Vitebsk), then part of the Russian Empire. The artist's real name is Movsha Chagall. His father was a laborer (unskilled construction worker). One of nine children born to a pious Jewish family, Chagall went on to become an artist, engraver and designer.

And the path to a career as an artist was not the easiest for Chagall. Jewish origin and beliefs of the master had certain prohibitions on the creation of paintings (the Old Testament forbade idolatry and was interpreted by Jews as a prohibition on painting). Chagall wrote: “Not a single picture hung on our walls. Until 1906, for all the years that I spent in Vitebsk, I never saw a single picture."

In 1906, when he was 19, Chagall was allowed to take lessons from a portrait painter in his hometown of Vitebsk, a small provincial community of 60,000 inhabitants, more than half of whom are Jews. Chagall recalled: “My uncle was too scared to support me. What if I want to portray him? God forbids such things. It is a sin.

Eventually becoming an artist, Chagall did not turn away from his Jewish origin. On the contrary, he was proud of him. He himself once said this in a letter to the American edition of Jewish Culture in September 1947: “On sleepless nights I sometimes think that maybe I still created a couple of paintings that could give me the right to be called:“Jewish artist” … I am always a Jew … If I had not been a Jew, I would not have been an artist."

Many works created by Chagall cover almost all artistic styles and trends. Creating as a modernist, Marc Chagall also created canvases in a cubic style. One of his most famous works, in which he experiments with a new style for him, is Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers. This oil painting is part of the Chagall collection at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Plot

Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers was Marc Chagall's first self-portrait. It was painted by the artist at the age of 25 (1913). The canvas was created in his first Paris studio, where he and 200 other artists worked in the famous Parisian dormitory of artists in Montparnasse called the Beehive.

On the canvas, the artist depicted himself working at an easel. The subject of his painting is a milkmaid and a cow. Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers contains hints of prosperity and a successful life: a bright palette of colors, a flashy bow tie, a radiant view from the window. Warm, bright colors are reminiscent of the artist's childhood and his hometown of Vitebsk, "a picturesque city of churches and synagogues." Although Chagall spent most of his life in France, he always returned to Belarus with his heart and soul.

In Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers, two landscapes are intertwined above the artist: on the right is his new house in Paris, on the left are memories of his children's village in Belarus and his native Vitebsk. Chagall had a great love for Paris, on canvases it is manifested by the inclusion of the Eiffel Tower in the window, which is located in the upper left corner of the picture.

On the right above the head of the master, the hovering cloud is the image of the Orthodox Church. For the first time in Chagall's work, we see the landscape of Vitebsk, framed in a round frame with a small greenish synagogue in the center. At the top of the canvas the words "Paris" and "Russia" are written in Hebrew. Chagall presents himself as a successful artist: well-groomed hair, an elegant suit, a pink flower in his buttonhole and a fashionable tie. In his hands is a colorful palette in the form of a violin with many colors - another attribute of success.

In this range of colors, yellow stands out especially. Bright, radiant, translucent yellow. This powerful color can only be compared to Vincent Van Gogh's yellow. But how different they are: for Vincent, yellow is a mental imbalance and loneliness. For Marc Chagall, yellow is energy and success.

Influence of Cubism

The angular, like a broken format of the painting, more like a puzzle, is the influence of Cubism, the style of painting that was popular at the time. An acquaintance with Picasso (the founder of the cubic direction) played an important role here. In addition to the cubism style used, there are echoes of realism in the picture: Chagall captured his real features in the portrait - a long straight nose, almond-shaped eyes and curly hair.

Why 7 fingers?

The artist has seven fingers on his hands. The interpretation of this symbol is different. It is believed that this image is related to the biblical story. According to the Bible, God created the world in 7 days, and Marc Chagall creates his work using the coveted number "7" as a symbol of the creator. Chagall's Jewish heritage is clearly manifested in many of his works with references to traditional folk tales, fables and beliefs. In Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers, Chagall refers to the colorful Yiddish folk expression “Mit alle zibn finger” (with all seven fingers), which means “to do something with seven fingers,” that is, as good as possible. An alternative definition of seven fingers on his hand may be the result of his birth date being the seventh day of the seventh month in 1887 (7/7/1887). In addition, the artist's favorite number has always been the number 7.

Thus, this self-portrait carries the artist's message of belonging to three cultures: Marc Chagall was an itinerant dreamer with three souls: Jewish, French and Russian. In addition, Marc Chagall showed his love for the number 7 on the canvas, not forgetting to mention the Jewish proverb. Marc Chagall's work has influenced a huge number of cultures: from his humble hometown of Vitebsk, he went to contemplate the greatness of St. Petersburg, the romance of Paris, the freedom of New York. During the wars, the persecution of the Nazis and other difficulties, he nevertheless found his meaning - painting.