Table of contents:
- The Past of the Grand Opera, André Malraux and Marc Chagall
- New plafond
- Plafond of the Paris Opera and the connection of times
Video: Triumph of Marc Chagall at the Paris Opera: How a Belarusian artist painted the ceiling at the Grand Opera
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The Paris Opera has been shining with its splendor for more than a decade, when Movsha Khotskelevich Chagall was born into a poor Jewish family in the Belarusian city of Vitebsk. A little more than a century will pass, and his art will be appreciated not only by visitors to the famous French theater, but also by connoisseurs of expensive watches - Chagall's work has literally passed the test of time.
The Past of the Grand Opera, André Malraux and Marc Chagall
The old building of the Paris Opera on rue Le Pelletier once fell out of favor with Napoleon III - it was there that the president of the French Republic was assassinated in 1858. Therefore, a competition was held for the best architectural project of the new Opera, and then the then unknown Charles Garnier won. In 1875, the tall building with a sparkling gold dome was opened to the public, and since 1989 it has been named Opera Garnier in honor of the architect.
The interiors of the Opera were decorated in the same sumptuous "Napoleon III style" as the building itself, and the plafond of the dome of the auditorium was painted by the artist Jules-Eugene Leneve. The composition included images of twelve muses and Apollo and was called "Muses and hours of day and night." But after a while, the plafond was damaged, and in 1963, the Minister of Culture of France, André Malraux, decided to renovate the auditorium of the Grand Opera. He invited Marc Chagall to paint the ceiling of the auditorium.
The artist, who was born in Vitebsk in 1887, came to Paris at the age of twenty-four on a scholarship, studied with the masters of Art Nouveau, lived in the famous hostel "Uley", arranged an exhibition of his works. Then Chagall began to call himself Mark. After some time, he left to return in 1923 at the invitation of the collector and philanthropist Ambroise Vollard, and Chagall's later life was firmly connected with France and its capital. In addition to paintings, Chagall also created sculptures, decorated stained-glass windows, created decorations for musical performances - apparently, this prompted the minister to choose an artist to renovate the plafond of the Opera.
The decision was quite bold - the artist represented the avant-garde direction in art, and opponents of such a choice voiced arguments about the inconsistency of Chagall's style with the historical value of the Parisian theater. But André Malraux was no stranger to making difficult decisions. This statesman showed himself even on the battlefields during the Second World War and became an associate of Charles le Gaulle. In addition, he was a writer, he penned many books, including the work "The Lot of Man", which in 1933 was awarded the Goncourt Prize.
New plafond
The work on the new plafond, which covered an area of 220 square meters, took a year, 77-year-old Chagall worked with three assistants. The composition of the work was conventionally divided into five colored sectors - green, blue, yellow, red, white.
Each sector captured a scene or heroes from classical works - "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky, "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky, "The Magic Flute" by Mozart, "Romeo and Juliet" by Berlioz and several others - who glorified the stage of the Paris Opera and world music in general. In addition to them, Chagall depicted the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Opera building itself. There you can also see the figures of the artist himself and the customer of the work - Malraux. At the same time, Leneve's work was not destroyed - Chagall created his work on 24 removable panels, which were installed on top of the old ceiling painting.
The opening of the renovated hall took place on September 23, 1964, the chandelier was lit during the performance by the orchestra of the "Jupiter Symphony" by Mozart, one of the artist's most beloved works. The illuminated plafond made the most favorable impression on the public. The combination of the baroque interior of the hall and the avant-garde painting of Chagall turned out to be interesting, breathed new life into the atmosphere of the auditorium, without harming its former splendor. True, it was not without critical reviews, the artist was even accused of wanting to enrich himself at the expense of taxpayers. True, Chagall did not receive any payment for the decoration of the plafond.
Plafond of the Paris Opera and the connection of times
Later, the artist completed one more work for André Malraux - this time it was associated with the design of a new book by the writer. This happened in 1977, and at the same time Chagall was awarded the highest award in France, receiving the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. Chagall died at the age of 98, as the fortune-teller once predicted - in flight: his heart stopped in an elevator, while climbing to the second floor of a house in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
Already in the new millennium, the Vacheron Constantin watch company has released 15 watch models with the image of fragments of the Opera's dome. This collection paid tribute to both the artist and composers, whose works have immortalized both time and, to some extent, the work of Chagall.
The plafond of the Grand Opera still attracts visitors, becoming one of the symbols of the building and complementing its cultural and historical appearance, already rich in stories and legends - associated with the allegedly living in the basement of the theater The Phantom of the Opera.
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