An entire hall of the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val is now dedicated to Marc Chagall, a legend of the Russian avant-garde, one of the most significant artists of world art of the 20th century. For the first time after the restoration, it will be possible to see the entire cycle of panels created by the master for the Jewish Theater, and not only.
In the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery there is a large collection of graphics by Marc Chagall, including illustrations for "Dead Souls", which the author personally presented to the gallery, but there are not so many paintings - only 12. But some are real hits. One of them - "Above the city" - what is it worth. A series of panels created by Chagall for the Jewish Theater is in great demand. They were seen in forty-five cities around the world, but in their native walls, as part of a permanent exhibition, they will be shown together for the first time. This series was created by Chagall in the 1920s, when he left his native Vitebsk and the school he created after disagreements with Kazimir Malevich, moved to Moscow and immediately received a large order.
“Chagall immediately said that he would paint a large panel and would write these things in order to make a kind of tuning fork, an introduction to the theater, and that with his painting he wants to fight false beards, the naturalism that existed in the theater,” says the curator of the department paintings of the late XIX - early XX century Tretyakov Gallery Lyudmila Bobrovskaya.
The artist worked on the scenery for two months, created nine panels, only seven survived. The largest is "Introduction to Jewish Theatre". The fate of these works by Marc Chagall is difficult, as well as the Jewish theater itself, which moved, and in 1949 was completely closed. Then the works ended up in the Tretyakov Gallery and waited a very long time for restoration.
“In 1973, when Chagall came to Moscow, he came to us, and these things were rolled out to him in the Serov Hall. He was insanely happy - he did not hope that they were alive, and even put a signature on some things, they were not there. He did not perceive his works as easel works,” explains Lyudmila Bobrovskaya.
Marc Chagall often emphasized his nationality - he wrote poetry in Yiddish, created stained-glass windows for the synagogue, but it is difficult to call him a Jewish artist, he is still a cosmopolitan, his artistic language is understandable on all continents. For example, the Japanese love him very much, and for a long time. In the Land of the Rising Sun, queues line up for his exhibitions.
Chagall basically did not join any groups, it is difficult to call him an adherent of any particular direction, although he himself said to himself: "I am a realist, I love the earth." Chagall can be called a fabulous artist, the origins of his work - in childhood, when it seems that everything is possible. And a goat can be green, and people can soar in the clouds.
A retrospective of Marc Chagall (1887-1985), dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the birth of the Belarusian and French artist, opens today at the Tretyakov Gallery. More than 150 graphic works, as well as paintings, author's sculpture, works of applied art from foreign collections, Russian museum and private collections are housed in the Engineering Building on Lavrushinsky Lane. The exhibition reveals the little-known legacy of Chagall - drawings, watercolors and gouaches almost unknown to us - from early Vitebsk sketches to late Parisian collages, as well as Chagall's printed graphics - famous illustrations for the Bible (1931–1956) and La Fontaine's "Fables" made in the etching technique (1950–1952).
"Self-portrait in front of the house", (1914), cardboard pasted on canvas, oil. Private collection, Paris
The exposition in the Tretyakov Gallery is based on works from the collections of the artist's family: unique, never exhibited in Russia, works of the "family circle" - self-portraits, portraits of mother, grandmother, cousins, sister, wife Bella and daughter Ida, executed at the end of 1900-10- x years. These canvases constitute a kind of autobiography of Chagall, a chronicle of his family. And the leitmotif of the exhibition is the image of Vitebsk, beloved by the artist, which is present in one way or another in all his paintings.
Many exhibits were brought from France, in particular, a group of works of the 1960s-1970s in a rare collage technique ("Triumph of Music. Sketch for a panel for the Metropolitan Opera", "The Clown and his Shadow (Blue Violinist)", "Purple Nude", " Anthem of the Clock Embankment").For the first time, the Moscow audience will also be shown Chagall's youthful albums recently acquired in France, which come from the archive of Blaise Cendrars, writer and poet, friend and translator of the master, who introduced the young artist to the circle of Parisian avant-garde artists.
"Wedding service", (1951-1952), ceramics, white enamel, painting
The famous "Wedding Service" created by Chagall in honor of the wedding of his daughter Ida (private collection, Paris), as well as two marble sculptures for the fountain - "Fish" and "Bird" (1964. Collection of the Pierre Janade Foundation, Martini) will also be a discovery for the Russian public. , Switzerland).
The project is included in the program of the Year of the French Language and Literature in Russia, thus denoting one of the main features of Marc Chagall's work - his internationality. The exhibition will run until September 30, 2012.
"Anthem of the Clock Embankment", (1968), paper, collage, mixed media. Private collection, Paris
Text: Daria Gorshkova
So what? I must admit - c "est captivant. [It's charming (French).] There's nothing to be done. This is the art that should disgust me to an extreme degree. This is what I hate in all other areas of life (I still don’t I have forgotten how to hate), with which, despite all my mental fatigue, I still cannot reconcile myself - and yet it captivates, I would even say - enchants, if you keep the exact meaning of the word. There are some secret charms in the art of Chagall, some kind of magic that, like hashish, acts not only in addition to consciousness, but also in spite of it<...>
Chagall won the Carnegie Prize. This is already a kind of global consecration. [Confession (French).] But even before that, for decades now, he has belonged to those artists whose names have gained worldwide fame, about whom critics do not write except using ready-made formulas, and this is an expression of the greatest reverence. Chagall is a real vedette, like, let's say, Chaplin. And this recognition can be considered well-deserved. He really approached the era, he stirs in people such feelings that for some reason they are drawn to experience. You can still find in this art elements of demonic glamor or the action of unclean forces, but it is not allowed to talk about this, and if it is allowed, then only in an ironic tone, or as some kind of “allegory”. Undoubtedly, there is something in common between the work of Chagall and the work of all kinds of artists - demoniacs of the Middle Ages, some of whom practiced "decorating" the most sacred cathedrals with all sorts of sculptural devilry, the other surrounded the miniatures of prayer books with the most reckless and so malicious grimaces. The same devilry was carried away by such great masters of painting as Bosch or the elder Brueghel, like Schongauer and like Grunewald - and with all of them Chagall has at least this in common that he completely submits to the arbitrariness of his imagination; that he writes whatever comes into his head; that he is generally in the power of something that defies any reasonable definition. However, Chagall's creations differ simply from nonsense and pranks and from the crazy creativity of crazy creations precisely by their genuine charms.
The current exhibition (opened at the gallery May, 12, rue Bonaparte) once again confirmed in me my attitude towards the art of Chagall (I was one of the first to appreciate this art a quarter of a century ago), and at the same time it dispelled the doubt that crept into me ; is Chagall not snobbish; has he not become a charlatan, has he turned, pushed to that by success, into a banal trickster who trades in what once gave him genuine inspiration? Such questions could quite naturally creep into the soul, since Chagall's repertoire is still the same limited, and he only does what he repeats the same themes.
So at this exhibition, we again saw all the same flying bearded Jews, lovers reclining on the sofa, white brides, acrobats, delicate ephebes with bouquets, fluttering angels, bent miserable violinists, and all this interspersed with some kind of musical goats, with giant chickens, with calves and apocalyptic horses. Yes, and in the sense of the background, this is again the same black sky with multi-colored halos of the luminaries, the same houses of a dirty hole from a terrible backwoods, the same melted snow, or window frames, green bushes, wall clocks, seven-candlesticks, tori. Only the arrangement of these various elements changes, and the format of the picture changes. It can be seen that the artist simply cannot do without other of these obligatory details, and they, no, no, and even crawl into his composition, which seems to him unfinished, until just such a goat-violinist or a winged herald finds a place for itself.
I went to the exhibition reluctantly, in anticipation of precisely these repetitions, which, over the years of my acquaintance with Chagall's work, had become very pallable. But this new demonstration of the “exercise with a limited number of props” not only did not upset me, but it captivated me, and, most importantly, this session did not give the impression of a stunt, or even to the point of complete insensitivity of a jagged trick. In every picture, in every drawing of Chagall, there is still a life of its own, and, consequently, its own raison d "etre. Somehow, all this, even the most familiar, touches; there is no regret like “this is such a wonderful talent , but he exchanges himself, he limits himself in such a way. " Chagall simply remained true to himself, otherwise he cannot create. But when he takes up brushes and paints, something rolls on him, and he does what he is told by the one who controls him deity - so it turns out that the fault of the deity, if everything turns out the same.
But only the deity is, of course, not Apollo. The most seductive and certainly seductive thing in Chagall is the colors, and not only their combination, but the colors themselves, each color taken by itself. This manner of laying paints is charming, what is called texture. But these colorful charms are by no means of Apollonian origin. There is neither harmonious melody nor well-established harmony in them, nor is there any task, carrying out any idea. Everything appears randomly, and it is impossible to find any intentions and laws in this continuous improvisation. Inspirations are more than enough, but inspiration is of the order to which artists who are fully in control of their work are somewhat condescending. Why should there not be such art, why not enjoy it? We amuse ourselves with the drawings of children or amateurs, we enjoy the often helpless products of folk art - everything in which immediate instinct operates and in which there is no regulating consciousness. Moreover, it is even useful to enjoy it, it has a refreshing effect, it gives new impulses. But the Apollonian beginning begins only from the moment when instinct gives way to will, knowledge, a certain system of ideas, and, finally, the influence of an entire traditional culture.
All this was revered until the beginning of the 20th century as real art; museums acquaint us with the history of this art, and because of such art, these museums have acquired in modern life the significance of priceless repositories, almost temples. We communicate in them with the highest and deepest minds (even if these minds were sometimes expressed in very awkward, strange forms, or even simply condescending to a joke, to jokes). But a strange impression will be made in these same museums by the paintings of Chagall and other artists, born of our confused, unaware, a quel saint se vouer [Which saint to worship (French).] era. Of course, they will express their era and will even do it better than any pictures of a more reasonable and sober character, or such pictures that betray a great schooling. However, I doubt that future generations will be filled with respect for our era after such an acquaintance with it, and will look back at us the way we look back at the different phases of the human past - with tenderness, with tenderness, and even envy. Pious people among these future (how mysterious!) generations, deducting the soul of our time from these most typical works for him (from Chagall's painting, among many others), will rather consider it fortunate that such a nightmare has dissipated, and will turn to heaven with a prayer that he didn't repeat himself.
I would like to single out one of the paintings in this Chagall exhibition. If it is no less nightmarish than the others, if it is very characteristic of Chagall, if the improvisational principle dominates in it, then nevertheless, it seems to me, it is more serious than anything else, it undoubtedly suffered, and it is felt that, creating her, the artist, instead of resorting to the usual creative excitement, which has in common with a sour-sweet drowsiness, was awakened by something, seriously frightened and indignant. There is no doubt that the real events were the reason for the creation of this vision.<…>However, the very meaning of the symbol presented is not clear to me. Why is it that the pale corpse of Christ nailed to the cross cuts obliquely in white radiance the darkness spilled over the picture?! Various other symbols are also incomprehensible (incomprehensible precisely as symbols) that are scattered around the picture. However, on the whole, this “vision” strikes and subjugates attention. Should the presence of Christ be interpreted as a ray of hope? Or do we have an atoning sacrifice? Or is an attempt made to denounce the culprit of countless troubles? Others considered that all the troubles that befell mankind during the long centuries of the Christian era were the direct fruits of that teaching, which, preaching mercy and love, in real experience, entailed more cruel and malicious consequences than everything that preceded it.
How to solve the problem, I do not know. The picture itself does not contain an answer, and I do not intend to turn to the creator himself for verbal comments (if he wishes to give them). But one thing, in any case, remains indisputable. In the painting “Christ” something extremely tragic is presented, and something that fully corresponds to the abomination of the era being lived through. This is the document of the soul of our time. And this is some kind of cry, some kind of cry, this is the true pathos! Perhaps this picture also means a turn in the very work of Chagall, his desire to move away from his former “seductive fun”, and in this case, we can expect other similar revelations from him in the future. Chagall is a true artist, and what he says with all sincerity will always be significant and interesting.
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Special issue. Marc Chagall "HELLO, MOTHERLAND!"
"Hello Motherland!" - the most complete exhibition of paintings by Marc Chagall (1887-1985) in Russia to date. The name was given to her by one of the artist's works. This is not only about the next long-awaited meeting of the works of the famous master with the Russian audience (the last major exhibition of Chagall took place at the State Tretyakov Gallery in 1992). Motherland - big and small, lost and found again - was constantly present in Chagall's art, which gave a unique originality to his work.
For many years, Marc Chagall has remained one of the most sought-after artists of Russian origin in the West. His personal exhibitions are regularly held in prestigious museums and galleries in Europe, America and Asia. The Tretyakov Gallery repeatedly provided works by Chagall from its collection for international projects. But in our country, a significant part of the works from foreign collections has never been exhibited. For the first time, the Moscow public had a unique opportunity to see the artist's works brought together, created in different years - from early Vitebsk works to famous masterpieces of the French period.
The peculiarity of the exhibition is that it includes a significant number of first-class works by Chagall from foreign collections. The Moscow public will see 27 paintings from the Paris Museum of Modern Art (Georges Pompidou Center), which are the most important for understanding the artist's work. Among them are iconic works: “The Wedding” (1910), “To Russia, Donkeys and Others” (1911), “Angel with a Palette” (1927-1936). The triptych “Resistance. Renaissance. Liberation" (1937-1952) Jean-Michel Fauré, director of the National Museum "The Biblical Message of Marc Chagall" in Nice. From this collection, the exhibition received, in addition to 8 first-class gouaches, a unique three-meter canvas "Abraham and Three Angels", which had never left its walls before. Another famous, but unknown to the domestic public, work is the “Yellow Room” from the Beyeler Foundation in Switzerland.
The exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery presents more than 180 exhibits. The exhibition also includes works from the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the State Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin and other Russian and foreign museums and private collections.
The exposition makes it possible to follow the changes in Chagall's artistic language, but, most importantly, to see the "constant" of his unique art, where fantasy and reality, dream and grotesque, visionary representations, own and people's memory, national and ritual thinking, elements of folklore and incredible , the utmost sincerity of Chagall. It is customary to call him an "artist-poet", and his art, following Apollinaire, is "superreal". Folklore characters, strange cows, donkeys, musicians, merchants and lovers soaring over the city coexist in Chagall's world. The city over which they take off is Vitebsk. According to Chagall, Paris became for him "the second Vitebsk". In the last twenty years of his life, the master found his third home on the Cote d'Azur in the town of Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
For Chagall, the connection with Russia was always important, which remained for the artist an inexhaustible source of themes, plots and images. On the first sheet of etchings - illustrations for "Dead Souls" - in 1927, the author inscribed: "I present to the Tretyakov Gallery with all my love of a Russian artist for his homeland this series of 96 engravings ..." 1 . He ended one of his last letters with the words: "... I wish you, everyone and my homeland happiness ..."
A catalog in Russian and English has been specially prepared for the exhibition. It contains articles by domestic and foreign experts on the artist's work, over 600 illustrations, as well as a chronograph that includes more than 100 photographs from the archives of the artist's heirs. The catalog significantly expands the scope of the exposition and is the most complete publication about Marc Chagall published in Russia.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
You invited us to join you today to open the largest ever exhibition dedicated to Marc Chagall in Russia. It is a great honor and great joy for me.
Today we pay tribute to the most brilliant artist of the 20th century, born in Russia, a great master who was also very attached to France. I am pleased to welcome the distinguished delegation that came to this special occasion and assisted in providing the exhibits. It includes members of the Marc Chagall family - Mrs. Bella Meyer and Mrs. Meret Meyer.
It is with great pleasure that I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the State Tretyakov Gallery to this extraordinary project. It was also attended by two of the largest French museums - the National Museum of Contemporary Art of the Center Georges Pompidou and the National Museum "The Bible Message of Marc Chagall" in Nice, whose directors honored us with their presence today. So, let me once again express my deep gratitude to you, Mr. Valentin Rodionov and Mrs. Ekaterina Selezneva, for this wonderful event.
In fact, the Tretyakov Gallery has been at the forefront of our cultural cooperation for several years now. Thanks to her, it becomes possible to see works brought from France here. At the same time, the employees of the Gallery simultaneously hold several large-scale events with various famous museums of our country. Paris will very soon be able to respond to her with an unprecedented event: the first large retrospective of works of Russian art of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries will open at the Musee d'Orsay on September 20 this year. It will consist of works, most of which have never been exhibited outside of Russia. Following this event, in the fall of 2006, it is planned to implement a project that is very dear to us - Moscow and St. Petersburg will simultaneously receive collections that include the most characteristic works of French art from the period 1860-1910. We hope that he will receive financial support from French and Russian private foundations. As you can see for yourself, France is doing its best to consolidate the privileged relations in the field of art that connect it with Russia, to make sure that every year becomes the year of Russia in France and the year of France in Russia, and that in the largest museums they succeed each other, as it was in recent months in Moscow, works by Matisse and Picasso (in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts), Boltanski (in the A.V. Shchusev Museum of Architecture) and today - Marc Chagall in the Tretyakov Gallery.
The next meeting in France will be held in less than three weeks within the framework of the Book Salon in Paris and will be devoted to literature. Russia is invited as a guest of honor. And we also know that the Louvre Museum is preparing a big project for 2008.
The French Embassy always strives to take part in the implementation of these projects. On his behalf, I am pleased to thank all those who, like you today, continue to contribute to the development of close creative, human and intellectual ties between our two countries.
Ambassador of France
In Russian federation
When the idea of a large exhibition of Marc Chagall arose, at first it looked like an absolute utopia. Firstly, it seemed impossible to collect so many masterpieces: the owners are usually reluctant to give the best works, which are the pride of their collections, to exhibitions in other cities and countries. Secondly, this is an extremely expensive project. Finally, the organization of large exhibitions with foreign participants is very difficult. However, the desire to implement the project was stronger than our fears. When we started to implement it, we were happy to discover the readiness of many partners - foreign and domestic - to meet us halfway. And today I would like to thank those whose enthusiasm and goodwill helped to solve all problems, making possible the long-awaited meeting of the artist with Russia.
Our main ally was the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, without whose organizational and financial support the project would hardly have been implemented. These efforts were supported by significant financial assistance provided by Vneshtorgbank.
Among the permanent partners and friends of the museum, Leonard Janadda was the first to respond, as always. In 1990, it was the Janad-da Foundation that helped the Tretyakov Gallery restore priceless Chagall panels for the Jewish Theatre; at the Janadd Foundation in Martini they were exhibited for the first time. This exhibition was the beginning of their triumphal tour around the world.
In recent years, not a single major project of the Gallery can do without the support of British American Tobacco Russia, which this time also helped to finance our exhibition.
Of the almost two hundred works by Chagall exhibited at the exhibition, 27 works were provided by the National Museum of Modern Art of the Center Georges Pompidou; the legendary canvas “Abraham and the Three Angels” and gouaches of the “Biblical cycle” were brought by the National Museum “The Biblical Message of Marc Chagall” in Nice; about four dozen wonderful works came from family collections. Finally, at the last moment, the issue of the arrival of the famous "Yellow Room" from the Beyeler Foundation in Switzerland to the exhibition was resolved - thanks to the assistance of the owners and the help of the Parisian gallery Bulakia.
The exhibition would not have been so large-scale without those important works that were provided to us by the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin in Moscow and a number of Russian museums and private collections.
I want to thank all the employees of the Tretyakov Gallery for the high professionalism and dedication with which they worked on the implementation of this difficult project.
We are excited to present you the result of the joint efforts of many participants - the exhibition of Marc Chagall "Hello, Motherland!". The Russian public will be able to see and appreciate the collection of works by the recognized classic of the 20th century - from early Vitebsk works to masterpieces of the French period, many of which are exhibited in Russia for the first time.
A catalog was prepared for the exhibition. It contains articles by Russian, French, and American art historians, which represent a serious result of modern research on Chagall's work. We believe that this book will become a fundamental scientific and reference publication for many specialists and connoisseurs of Chagall's art. We are pleased to announce that the publication of the English version of the catalog became possible only thanks to the financial assistance of the International Marc Chagall Foundation, where Meret Meyer, Chagall's granddaughter, applied for project support. This amazing woman selflessly helped the Tretyakov Gallery in preparing the exhibition for three years. We also express our sincere gratitude to Jean-Louis Prat, President of the Marc Chagall Committee, for invaluable advice.
General Director of the State Tretyakov Gallery
Dear friends!
I am very glad that the exhibition of works by Marc Chagall opens the new eighth year of cooperation between British American Tobacco Russia and the State Tretyakov Gallery. We are proud that we continue to contribute to the implementation of large-scale exhibition projects, to the replenishment of the museum's collection with new works of art and to the technical re-equipment of the Gallery.
Having lived most of his life abroad, Marc Chagall considered himself a Russian artist. Today, with the support of Russian patrons, including BAT Russia, Chagall returned to his homeland. Chagall's hometown, Vitebsk, I myself consider a city very close to me - after all, in the house located on the same street where Chagall lived, my father was born. Dad remembered well and told me a lot about the time when Mark Zakharovich, after returning to Vitebsk after the revolution, headed the Commissariat for Culture.
It is pleasant to realize that now the Russian public will be able to enjoy the full lyricism of the work of this outstanding artist, who, according to Mayakovsky, "wrote poems and poems with the colors of his heart."
I thank all the staff of the Tretyakov Gallery, and especially Ekaterina Leonidovna Selezneva, curator of Marc Chagall's exhibition "Hello, Motherland!", for this wonderful holiday. I am sure that such a grandiose exhibition will become a bright event in the cultural life of the Russian capital in 2005.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC "BAT-Yava", member of the Board of Trustees of the State Tretyakov Gallery
It may seem surprising and even incredible, but a huge part of the works of Marc Chagall in his homeland, in Russia, has never been presented. And this is despite the fact that the work of the great artist has long been recognized throughout the world, including at home, and we, his compatriots, had more than enough time to fill this gap.
I may be reminded that Marc Chagall was born and began to create in Vitebsk, that is, in Belarus, but there is no contradiction in what has been said. The artist himself considered Russia his homeland and suffered because she defiantly turned away from him. What sad poetry sounds like a letter to Russia written in 1927 to one of Chagall's addressees: “... I am almost cut off from Russia. No one writes to me, and I have no one to write to. It’s as if I wasn’t born in Russia ... And it seems: there’s no need for me there. And I often remember my Vitebsk, my fields ... and especially the sky.
Today, justice is being restored, and Marc Chagall occupies the place he rightfully deserves in Russian culture. Another step on this path will be the exhibition "Hello, Motherland!", titled after the title of one of Chagall's works. Thanks to the Tretyakov Gallery, which showed the work of Chagall in such impressive fullness, Russian viewers will be able to expand their understanding of one of the most outstanding masters of the twentieth century.
President-Chairman
boards
OJSC "Vneshtorgbank"
It is impossible to describe in words the excitement that we feel today, being present at the opening of the exhibition "Hello, Motherland!" full of moments of many magical discoveries.
But we cannot even imagine the excitement that our grandfather would have experienced if he had had a chance to experience these moments of happiness with us. If our gaze could soar above these roofs and shoot upward, it would bring us closer to the sensations of Chagall, today, no doubt, painted in vivid, bright, poetic colors. Moreover, he forever retained strong impressions of how thoughtfully and in depth the Russian public examines works of art, trying to penetrate the essence of the artist's intention.
When in 1973 our grandfather returned from a trip to Russia, which after his final departure became the first and last meeting with the Motherland, I remember how he recalled this Russian look - he didn’t talk much, he just fell silent for a long time, and after a while, said: “Oh, what a thing!”
Today we have the honor to understand a lot about this "look". It is analogous to the genuine magic that emanates in silence from the works of the master brought together here.
Meret Meyer
,
the artist's granddaughter
It is quite difficult for me to speak after my sister, who managed to find the right words to express the feelings that we experience while in Moscow. Today we really feel great gratitude, it is a great honor for us to open this wonderful exhibition of Chagall together with you.
I do not know if I can fully thank you for coming - after so many years of patiently waiting for this day - to see again, and for some, perhaps for the first time, discover Chagall's painting.
He has always worked hard. This was the most important day of his life. As he said, nothing can be achieved without hard work. It was his way of fighting for his ideals. He often asked us, his grandchildren, if we found love, do we have ideals? When you are a few years old, it is quite difficult to understand the essence of this issue. And only when I grew up, I understood and heard the message that he wanted to convey to us. To paint pictures was for him a kind of prayer, awareness of his own "I", the struggle for artistic freedom.
Thank you for coming to take part in the opening of this wonderful, love-filled exhibition that celebrates Chagall.
Bella Meyer
,
the artist's granddaughter
- The quotation is given in the author's spelling
The exhibition “Marc Chagall. The origins of the artist's creative language”, timed to coincide with his 125th birthday. The exposition focuses on little-known graphics, it also includes examples of Jewish folk art and Russian popular prints.
Going into exile in 1922, Marc Chagall wrote: “Neither tsarist nor Soviet Russia needs me. They don't understand me, I'm a stranger here. But Rembrandt certainly loves me. And maybe, after Europe, my Russia will love me.” The forecast was fully justified, although the artist had to wait half a century for recognition in his homeland. In 1973 he came to Moscow to open his personal exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery. However, full-fledged recognition, accompanied by the love of the general public, happened after the death of Chagall - in perestroika times. In 1987, the Pushkin Museum staged a large retrospective of the master, which became wildly popular: the queue to the museum was occupied from the night. And a relatively recent, 2005, project of the Tretyakov Gallery called "Hello, Motherland!" enjoyed great success
The current exposition in the Engineering Corps can be considered a kind of set of footnotes and comments on the previous "folio".
There are no popularly beloved hits like "Walks over Vitebsk" or "Fiddler on the Roof" here, but there are one and a half hundred exhibits with a more chamber sound. Most of them are not familiar to our viewers. According to the curator of the exhibition, Ekaterina Selezneva (in her free time she works as the director of the international relations department of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation), almost all of these materials were nominated seven years ago for participation in the Hello, Motherland! project, but did not make it into the final composition. Presumably, primarily due to the fact that they faded against the backdrop of large-scale canvases. At the same time, it was decided to arrange in the indefinite future a separate exhibition of graphics and small-format painting in order to focus on the roots and origins of Chagall's art. As Meret Meyer, the artist's granddaughter, joked at a press conference, "if you liken the exhibition to a child, then seven years of gestation could lead to the birth of a certain monster." However, the “baby” presented to the public came out quite cute - at least without developmental deviations. Although you can’t call him a child prodigy either.
It's no secret that the art of Marc Chagall was the result of a powerful synthesis of several styles, manners and visual cultures at once. The artist folded his personal myth on a whim and inspiration, borrowing from around not so much ideas and images as "bridgeheads" for his own emotions. But in hindsight, a fair number of parallels can be identified, often quite unconscious.
If the organizers of the exhibition had really pursued the goal of exploring the "origins of the artist's creative language", they would not have limited themselves to including bronze menorahs, ritual glasses, Hanukkah lamps and other signs of shtetl life in the exposition.
Items of this kind, borrowed from the Russian Ethnographic Museum and the Museum of Jewish History in Russia, are extremely appropriate here, but clearly insufficient. And even a small collection of Russian popular prints still does not close the topic of "origins". For complete credibility, Orthodox icons would be required (Chagall highly valued them), and works by cubists and surrealists, and even selected works by Russian classics - from Alexander Ivanov to Mikhail Vrubel. In the catalog of the exhibition, such connections are traced, but in the exposition reality they are not visible. It is easy to see why: such a study would not only require additional (and considerable) organizational efforts, but would also unsettle the so-called "ordinary" viewers. The figure of Marc Chagall would cease to play the main and exclusive role; the public would have to wade through labyrinths of meanings to his works. From the point of view of the project's democratic nature, this approach must have seemed unacceptable to the organizers, although from the point of view of art history it looked very seductive.
But there is no evil without good. The minimization of attracted allusions makes it possible to cling to the work of Chagall directly, without intermediaries.
Although the bet is made on graphics, including printed ones, there is also painting here, so lovers of recognizable Chagall effects will not be left out. The impact of the canvas “Nude over Vitebsk” should be especially dramatic: it should be borne in mind that it was written in 1933, when the artist received two moral injuries at once.
The Nazis then burned a number of Chagall's works after the exhibition "Bolshevism in Art", and the French authorities refused to grant him citizenship, recalling the period of commissariat in Vitebsk. In a certain sense, this picture can be regarded as a session of spiritual self-healing.
However, almost everything in Chagall is autobiographical, even phantasmagoria. For example, the engraved illustrations for the book “My Life” (it is curious that the artist finished writing the memoir volume at the age of only 37) are filled with surreal details - and yet they are perceived almost as documentary evidence. All the more reliable are the portraits of family members - mother, wife Bella and daughter Ida, cousins, distant relatives. On this occasion, Chagall's phrase is recalled: "If my art did not play any role in the lives of my relatives, then their lives and their actions, on the contrary, greatly influenced my art."
Why not yet another "source of creative language"? The family theme at the exhibition is somewhat unexpectedly continued by fragments of the "Wedding Service" - ceramic dishes painted by the artist in honor of his daughter's marriage.
Meret Meyer claims that they often used this service during their grandfather's life in everyday life.
The exhibition fundamentally does not follow any chronologies, so that in the neighborhood in a single space you can find youthful sketches, and the famous etching series of illustrations for the Bible and Dead Souls (these are works of the 1920s - 1930s), and later tinted collages , which were not actually intended for the public, but served as sketches for monumental works, for example, for the Triumph of Music panel for the New York Metropolitan Opera. It is clear that the mixing of different periods of creativity also does not contribute to analytical perception. Although in the case of Chagall, such an exposition method partially justifies itself. Throughout his long life, he seemed to circle around his own emotions, among which one of the most important was longing for the lost Vitebsk. So gaps of tens of years between works do not seem so critical.
Tags: Marc Chagall, Tretyakov Gallery
