Scribd
Upload
76 views4 pages

Art by Marc Chagall Bethers

This document contains summaries of 4 paintings by Marc Chagall: 1) Resurrection of Lazarus from 1910 depicts a biblical scene and represented a personal reflection for Chagall as he moved to Paris. 2) Vitebsk Village Scene from 1917 shows his hometown in a dystopian light with dark colors, reflecting his negative feelings about the town. 3) The Soldier Drinks from 1912 uses cubist techniques and may criticize Russian oppression through the depiction of soldiers. 4) The Paris Sun from 1977 highlights the beauty and life of Paris through a colorful sun and flowers, representing Chagall's love for the city.

Uploaded by

api-562628548
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
76 views4 pages

Art by Marc Chagall Bethers

This document contains summaries of 4 paintings by Marc Chagall: 1) Resurrection of Lazarus from 1910 depicts a biblical scene and represented a personal reflection for Chagall as he moved to Paris. 2) Vitebsk Village Scene from 1917 shows his hometown in a dystopian light with dark colors, reflecting his negative feelings about the town. 3) The Soldier Drinks from 1912 uses cubist techniques and may criticize Russian oppression through the depiction of soldiers. 4) The Paris Sun from 1977 highlights the beauty and life of Paris through a colorful sun and flowers, representing Chagall's love for the city.

Uploaded by

api-562628548
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Ben Bethers

IB English
Moosman Period 2
December 20, 2022

Art by Marc Chagall

Resurrection of Lazarus
This painting was made in 1910 by Marc Chagall right after he moved to Paris and is now stored
at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I think that this painting could be a marker for a shift of Chagall’s life. I don’t know what
significance his move from Russia to Paris had for him, but I think that it could have felt like a
resurrection or an escape of sorts from his childhood town of Vitebsk. I think that this is
supported from what I have read on the modernism movement, which states that modernists did
not create art for deities or for religious reasons, but simply for the sake of art itself. For this
reason, I think that this painting was more of a personal reflection than a religious ode.

Vitebsk Village Scene


This painting depicts Chagall’s childhood town of Vitebsk and was painted in 1917 and is now
depicted in Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

I think that this painting has a very interesting color scheme. I think that the red sky and the man
with white clothes who is bleeding in the front gives the whole town a very dystopian setting.
The overall dark and tainted color scheme gives off a very negative connotation. Furthermore,
knowing the thoughts Marc Chagall had about this town, the painting gives off an even greater
atmosphere of fear and contempt. The remarks Chagall had made about this town shortly after
leaving it made it clear that he did not like this town to say the least. Ultimately, with both the
color scheme and background information in mind, the painting ultimately seems to be a means
of closure for Chagall.
The Soldier Drinks
This painting was made in 1912 by Marc Chagall and is currently stored at the The Guggenheim
Museums and Foundation and was inspired by tsarist soldiers being billeted with Russian
families during the Russo-Japanese War..

This painting has a very interesting color usage and it seems to be quite different from the other
styles of Chagall’s paintings, following a cubism style with more straight lines and geometric
shapes. I think that this difference in style could be connected to a more political message. I do
not know entirely whether or not Chagall made this painting because he was free of Russian
oppression or just because he had some contempt for Russia and its very harsh environment. I
know that Chagall thought in his childhood that his father is far too hard for far too little money.
I wonder whether part of Marc Chagall’s inspiration behind this was the feeling that the Russian
government was pitting lazy soldiers on already struggling with staying financially afloat.
Besides this, I think that there are very interesting coloring and scaling decisions from Chagall
that give the painting more meaning.
This piece, The Paris Sun, was painted in 1977 by Marc Chagall and is now kept at the Musée
Marmottan Monet in Paris.

This photo has a very interesting and unusual usage of color. It is immediately clear that there are
two major points and one minor point of the painting that are meant to draw the attention of the
audience, the red sun, the colorful flowers, and the faint splash of yellow on the cow in the top
left corner. In contrast, the rest of the painting is overwhelmingly blue and the dramatic contrast
has such an important role in the meaning of the piece. The two major focal points of the flower
and the sun show the beauty and life of Paris which, according to the Marc Chagall biographical
article which I read, Chagall saw in Paris. Evidently, wanting so desperately to return to Paris
both after marrying his first wife and moving back to Paris and also moving back to Paris
following the second World War. I think that this shows that the painting is an ode to Paris and
the draw it had for Chagall.

You might also like