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Lot Essay
Chagall’s fascination with spiritual and religious imagery had its roots, as with much of his art, in his childhood in Vitebsk, which was dominated by the dramas and rituals of the Jewish religious calendar, its stories and legends, prayers and ceremonies. ‘Every holy day brought its own atmosphere,’ Bella Chagall wrote in her memoir of her youth, recalling how each feast day or celebration had its own customs, food and traditions, which brought the town to life (quoted in J. Wullschlager, Chagall: Love and Exile, London, 2008, p. 29). These events left a vivid mark on the impressionable young artist’s imagination – in his recollections of Passover, for example, Chagall tells how he anxiously awaited Elijah’s arrival, while the wine in his father’s glass seemed to offer visions of ‘the burning heat of the Arabian desert’ (quoted in F. Meyer, Marc Chagall: Life and Work, London, 1964, p. 383). These events and celebrations were coloured by the heady, emotional practices of the Jewish sect of Hasidism, to which Chagall’s extended family belonged, which sought an intuitive communion with God through joy, faith, ecstatic prayer, music and dance.
Chagall’s early paintings of his hometown were infused with the spirit of these religious festivals and traditions, filling his paintings and drawings with a lively cast of characters and scenes that reveal the inextricable link between life in Vitebsk and the Jewish faith. Though Chagall did not continue to actively practice religion through his adulthood, his Jewish upbringing remained integral to his sense of identity, permeating his creative imagination throughout his life. ‘If a painter is Jewish and paints life, how can there help being Jewish elements in his work!’ he exclaimed, before going on to acknowledge that ‘…if he is a good painter, there will be more than that. The Jewish element will be there but his art will tend to approach the universal’ (quoted in S. Compton, Chagall, exh. cat., London, 1985, p. 19). Indeed, as he journeyed away from Vitebsk, first to St. Petersburg and subsequently to Paris, Chagall came into contact with new ways of thinking and cultures, which opened his eyes to a wide range of subjects beyond his Jewish heritage.
Chagall’s early paintings of his hometown were infused with the spirit of these religious festivals and traditions, filling his paintings and drawings with a lively cast of characters and scenes that reveal the inextricable link between life in Vitebsk and the Jewish faith. Though Chagall did not continue to actively practice religion through his adulthood, his Jewish upbringing remained integral to his sense of identity, permeating his creative imagination throughout his life. ‘If a painter is Jewish and paints life, how can there help being Jewish elements in his work!’ he exclaimed, before going on to acknowledge that ‘…if he is a good painter, there will be more than that. The Jewish element will be there but his art will tend to approach the universal’ (quoted in S. Compton, Chagall, exh. cat., London, 1985, p. 19). Indeed, as he journeyed away from Vitebsk, first to St. Petersburg and subsequently to Paris, Chagall came into contact with new ways of thinking and cultures, which opened his eyes to a wide range of subjects beyond his Jewish heritage.