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Lot Essay
'Every painter is born somewhere, and even though he may later respond to the influences of other atmospheres, a certain essence – a certain “aroma” of his birthplace clings to his work’
- Marc Chagall (quoted in J. J. Sweeney, ‘An Interview with Marc Chagall,’ Partisan Review, vol. XI, no. 1, Winter 1944, p. 90).
Throughout his life, the town of Vitebsk where the artist had spent his formative years stood at the very foundation of Chagall’s creative inspiration. Its familiar streets and simple dwellings, ordinary inhabitants and colourful festivals, all left their mark on his imagination, shaping the artist he would become. As the artist explained, addressing his hometown directly, he carried Vitebsk in his heart through all of his life: ‘I didn’t have one single picture that didn’t breathe with your spirit and reflection’ (quoted in J. Wullschlager, Chagall: Love and Exile, London, 2008, p. 29).
Writing in the 1960s, the artist’s son-in-law Franz Meyer pinpointed the connection the artist felt for Vitebsk, and the powerful hold it had on his imagination: ‘…one senses the affectionate attachment that binds Chagall to his native town. This bond has continued down to the present day. That is why Chagall still paints the houses, the people and the views of Vitebsk. For him the town not only represents the past, but also the present. It is, and always will be, the scene of all inner experience’ (F. Meyer, op. cit., p. 24). Similarly, the artist himself explained to one interviewer: ‘Why do I always paint Vitebsk? With these pictures I create my own reality for myself, I recreate my home’ (quoted in S. Compton, Chagall: Love and the Stage 1914-1922, exh. cat., London, 1998, p. 16).
Livestock were a frequent sight in the artist's home town, with most families keeping chickens or cows, and as a result these animals came to populate his paintings with increasing frequency. In the artist's later works, animals such as the blue goat in the present work, came to acquire symbolic or mystical meanings and often represented a source of inspiration or creativity.
- Marc Chagall (quoted in J. J. Sweeney, ‘An Interview with Marc Chagall,’ Partisan Review, vol. XI, no. 1, Winter 1944, p. 90).
Throughout his life, the town of Vitebsk where the artist had spent his formative years stood at the very foundation of Chagall’s creative inspiration. Its familiar streets and simple dwellings, ordinary inhabitants and colourful festivals, all left their mark on his imagination, shaping the artist he would become. As the artist explained, addressing his hometown directly, he carried Vitebsk in his heart through all of his life: ‘I didn’t have one single picture that didn’t breathe with your spirit and reflection’ (quoted in J. Wullschlager, Chagall: Love and Exile, London, 2008, p. 29).
Writing in the 1960s, the artist’s son-in-law Franz Meyer pinpointed the connection the artist felt for Vitebsk, and the powerful hold it had on his imagination: ‘…one senses the affectionate attachment that binds Chagall to his native town. This bond has continued down to the present day. That is why Chagall still paints the houses, the people and the views of Vitebsk. For him the town not only represents the past, but also the present. It is, and always will be, the scene of all inner experience’ (F. Meyer, op. cit., p. 24). Similarly, the artist himself explained to one interviewer: ‘Why do I always paint Vitebsk? With these pictures I create my own reality for myself, I recreate my home’ (quoted in S. Compton, Chagall: Love and the Stage 1914-1922, exh. cat., London, 1998, p. 16).
Livestock were a frequent sight in the artist's home town, with most families keeping chickens or cows, and as a result these animals came to populate his paintings with increasing frequency. In the artist's later works, animals such as the blue goat in the present work, came to acquire symbolic or mystical meanings and often represented a source of inspiration or creativity.