The Palau Martorell in Barcelona presented this Monday the exhibition
that can be seen from October 31 to March 24, 2024. The exhibition presents a selection of 150 works, 25 of them never before seen in Spain, which offer a journey through the major themes that interested the artist.
, the initiative invites to discover Marc Chagall's personal universe with his own style through paintings with intense colors, life, and real and imaginary characters. Curated by Lola Durán Úcar, the exhibition focuses on the Russian and Jewish rites and traditions he experienced during childhood, faith, exile, or fascinations with the circus or the city of Paris, reports
.
To review the painter's personal universe, the Palau Martorell has prepared an exhibition that covers fifty years of work in seven different sections, according to the main vital themes that inspired his creation. On the one hand, there are the author's origins in the Russian Empire, in a city half Jewish and half Russian. A place that had an influence on Chagall's childhood.
The exhibition dedicated to Marc Chagall can be seen until March 24, 2024. ©ACN In a similar vein, there is also the part about the colors of dreams. This section deals with family life, prayers, visits to the synagogue or school. Experiences that marked his interest in nature, daily life, popular legends, and Jewish beliefs, which can be seen in a variety of pieces. One of the most outstanding sections of the exhibition, with almost a hundred works, is the one focused on the illustrations for La Fontaine's Fables. With this work, the author felt close to the Russian tradition, to icons and lubki,
colored prints belonging to Russian popular culture that appeared accompanied by a simple text and were traditionally used to instruct people with little education.
Le Reve, 1980. Marc Chagall. ©VEGAP, Barcelona, 2023 - Chagall ® After having witnessed the persecution of Jews and the exile of his compatriots, the section
Sacred World shows
the immense sadness for the suffering of his people. Here you can see several works in which the strong emotional impact of a trip in 1931 to Egypt, Syria, and Palestine is evident. Thus, his creations about the Bible reflect his faith, his vitality, the intense Palestinian light that illuminates him, and the spiritual strength received.
Marc Chagall's existence was marked by war and displacement. For this reason, in
Exodus, one can see how the artist represented the biblical exodus as an allegory of the persecution to which Jews were subjected during the Nazi invasion in World War II. From a different perspective, in
Color, a world of rich symbolism, of bright colors with impossible nuances, can be appreciated. "Saturated and vibrant colors, luminous and intense tones, that define his work and contribute to creating his dreamlike universe. The artist understands the essence of color, with which he transmits sensations and emotions, modifying reality through his masonry," they commented. At this point,
Chagall shows one of his fascinations: the colorful atmosphere of the circus. The clowns and acrobats carry in their memory the fair days in Vitebsk (his hometown), when amidst music and juggling he dreamed of a bohemian life.
The exhibition includes 25 works that had not been seen in Spain until now. And in the chapter of fascinations, the city of Paris cannot be missing. The place that welcomed him becomes one of his main sources of inspiration. In 1954, Chagall created a series of lithographs for the magazine
Derrière le miroir with the Eiffel Tower, the Pantheon, or Notre Dame as protagonists, which are considered
a true declaration of love for the French capital. Finally, one of the last facets that the exhibition deals with is love. His partner, Bella Rosenfeld, appears in many of the paintings he painted throughout his life.