PRESENTATION

 Marc Chagall was born on July 7, 1887 in Vitebsk, Russia. In 1932 he moved to France. He lived in the United States from 1941 to 1948, and then returned to France. He died in France on March 28. 1985. He was a Jewish Russian-French artist. He was an early modernist, and created works in virtually every artistic medium. His painting styles were Expressionism and Cubism.

The first art is “I and the Village”. This is one of his famous paintings. It was painted in 1911. It is a painting in oil on canvas. It is an abstract style painting. Marc used both geometric shape and organic shapes in the painting. We can see the value of every color that Marc used in the painting. The work contains many soft, dreamlike images overlapping each other in a continuous space: in the foreground, a cap-wearing green-faced man stares at a goat or sheep with the image of a smaller goat being milked on its cheek. In the foreground is a glowing tree held in the man's dark hand. The background features a collection of houses next to a church, and an upside-down female violinist in front of a black-clothed man holding a scythe. The green-faced man wears a necklace with cross, indicating that the man is a Christian. I think this painting is influenced by memories of the artist’s birth place and his relationship.

“La Mariee (French for “The Bride”) is a painting by Marc Chagall in 1950. It was painted in oil on canvas. The focal point is on a young woman in quasi-wedding attire with a bouquet of flowers. Marc used abstract style. In the painting, we can see animals are playing musical instruments. Then, there is a man that hangs over the head of the bride and the church stands in the background.  The young woman is dressed in a red dress lively, with a virginal white veil draped over her head and the background is a mix of fresh and soft blue and gray. This effect allows the image of the woman to jump off the canvas and really attract attention. My subject thought is Chagall has attempted to highlight the woman, as is tradition in every marriage.

The last painting is “The three candles”. This is his most famous painting. It was painted in 1938-1940 in Pairs, France. It is used oil on canvas. In the painting, the colors are vivid and cover the canvas from edge to edge. He has incorporated his trademark themes, such as young love and religious icons, while mixing in his abstract style. The background features many angelic-like figures floating around. The young couple appears to be rising up with the angels, which reflects heavily on the artist’s appreciation of love and the respect and dignity that he affords it. The young lovers themselves are focusing on the candles, which have definite religious undertones, conveying a religious perspective for their relationship. To me, this painting radiates happiness and spirituality; the background emulates the young couple's loving tenderness towards one another. I can see protection but not isolation, except, perhaps, the special bonding the young couple have for each other, which will never be broken.