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Vitebsk genius: Marc Chagall about his hometown in painting and in poems
Vitebsk genius: Marc Chagall about his hometown in painting and in poems

Video: Vitebsk genius: Marc Chagall about his hometown in painting and in poems

Video: Vitebsk genius: Marc Chagall about his hometown in painting and in poems
Video: Google Art Project - virtual museums - YouTube 2024, April
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Marc Chagall is a Vitebsk genius
Marc Chagall is a Vitebsk genius

Life was bright and eventful in the art of a native of the small Belarusian Vitebsk, Marc Chagall, a famous avant-garde artist and poet. Yes, yes … and the poet, not many people know about Mark Zakharovich's literary talent. And he, living in a foreign land, steadily returned to his origins, strove there with every fiber of his soul and heart. This is evidenced by a huge number of paintings and lyrical works of the master dedicated to Vitebsk.

Today it is difficult to believe that thirty years ago the name of the most famous artist in the world was banned in his homeland. And today, in the literal sense, almost every day more and more new pages are opened connected with this outstanding master.

Vitebsk - the city of childhood and the main image in the artist's work

Mark Shagal
Mark Shagal

In the artist's life, Vitebsk is a city of childhood and the most reverent memories, where, as a boy, he often had to sit in the attic and look at the squat wooden houses and an endless series of fences, the local church and the winding roads of his native small town. And later, Chagall painted his paintings in a studio, through the window of which the hill was visible, and the church standing on it. The artist very often depicted her in his numerous creations.

"Above the city". (1914-1918). Author: Marc Chagall
"Above the city". (1914-1918). Author: Marc Chagall

He carried love for his homeland into his heart throughout his long life, as well as love for his dear Bella, whom he met in the same Vitebsk … It was here that Mark was first called an "artist": a friend who once saw one of Mark's drawings, called him this cherished word, so deeply sunk into the soul of the future genius … From here he once went to Petersburg, with 27 rubles in his pocket, to conquer him, and it was from here that he emigrated and abroad, never to return.

Read also: “Aren't you from Vitebsk?”: Rozhdestvensky's nostalgic poem dedicated to Marc Chagall.

"Blue House". (1917). Author: Marc Chagall
"Blue House". (1917). Author: Marc Chagall

By the will of fate, the artist had to live and go into eternity at almost 100 years of age, far from his small homeland, leaving a considerable creative legacy dedicated to her.

"Pharmacy in Vitebsk". (1914). Author: Marc Chagall
"Pharmacy in Vitebsk". (1914). Author: Marc Chagall
"Cemetery Gates". (1917). Author: Marc Chagall
"Cemetery Gates". (1917). Author: Marc Chagall
"Window. Vitebsk ". (1908). Author: Marc Chagall
"Window. Vitebsk ". (1908). Author: Marc Chagall
"Street in Vitebsk". (1914). Author: Marc Chagall
"Street in Vitebsk". (1914). Author: Marc Chagall
“New Year in Vitebsk.” (1914). Author: Marc Chagall
“New Year in Vitebsk.” (1914). Author: Marc Chagall

Lyrics of an avant-garde artist

"Self-portrait with a muse (Dream)". Author: Marc Chagall
"Self-portrait with a muse (Dream)". Author: Marc Chagall

Speaking about the Vitebsk creative period of Marc Chagall, I would also like to turn to his lyrics, which he was fond of from his youthful years and devoted to his native places, his beloved woman and everything that worried him., - from the memoirs of the artist-poet in his autobiographical memoir "My Life".

Angel over the rooftops

"Kite". Author: Marc Chagall
"Kite". Author: Marc Chagall

This poem, like most other poems, is written in Yiddish, and in Russian it sounds like this:

"Self-portrait with easel". (1917). Author: Marc Chagall
"Self-portrait with easel". (1917). Author: Marc Chagall

The artist turned to poetry at all periods of his life. But unfortunately, most of Chagall's first youthful poems were lost, but mature works with a deep philosophical meaning and anxious attitude to everything dear to the master are worthy of the attention of admirers of his work.

It was in Yiddish that Mark Zakharovich spilled out his grief, expressed concern about the fate of his people, its culture, and also hoped for the revival of the Jewish state.

"White crucifixion". (1938). Author: Marc Chagall
"White crucifixion". (1938). Author: Marc Chagall
"Loneliness". (1933). Author: Marc Chagall
"Loneliness". (1933). Author: Marc Chagall
The Green Violinist. (1923-24). Author: Marc Chagall
The Green Violinist. (1923-24). Author: Marc Chagall
"Jacob's Dream". Author: Marc Chagall
"Jacob's Dream". Author: Marc Chagall
Lithograph by Marc Chagall 1957 "Christ as a clock"
Lithograph by Marc Chagall 1957 "Christ as a clock"
"Between War and Peace". Author: Marc Chagall
"Between War and Peace". Author: Marc Chagall
Mark Shagal
Mark Shagal

A year ago, the world community celebrated the 130th anniversary of the birth of the famous artist who stood at the origins of avant-garde art and thanks to whom his native Vitebsk is glorified. Today in Belarus, the National Art Museum in Minsk and the Vitebsk art center keep more than three hundred works of the artist, including woodcuts, etchings, lithographs, aquatints. And oddly enough, the image of the city of Vitebsk in the works of the masters of the early XX century can hardly be found anywhere, it is only in the nostalgic works of Marc Chagall.

The video presents a fascinating short biography of the avant-garde master of the early 20th century.

Indeed, they say that if a person is talented, then he is talented in everything. This fully applies to Marc Chagall.

Read also: Marc Chagall - "artist without borders": Little-known facts from the life and work of the avant-garde artist.

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