The Museum of Biblical Art (MoBiA) currently has an exhibition exploring Marc Chagall's use of biblical narratives in his art. Entitled Chagall's Bible: Mystical Storytelling the exhibition runs from October 7, 2008 - January 18, 2009:
"No other modernist painter melded the traditions of Jewish Hasidism, eastern Orthodoxy, and western catholic tradition into such dramatically rich and personally significant expressions of biblical narratives. From his White Russian youth in Vitebsk to his professional life as a painter in Paris, Chagall recorded in his graphic works and paintings symbolic elements derived from each of these religious traditions. The intersection of Hasidic and Christian iconographies in Chagall's representations of biblical heroes, prophets, or scenes of the Crucifixion yields an intriguing dynamic tension, which has never been adequately addressed in a major museum exhibition. This exhibition will identify salient details in Chagall's oeuvre that demonstrate the intersection of his fascination with Jewish and Christian traditions, as well as, the interaction between his cultural roots in Russia and his fondness for France."
The exhibition booklet, written by art historian Tom Freudenheim, is a musing on the theme of transgression in Chagall's work and specifically in his use of Russian, Jewish, and Christian symbols. The illustrated text explores Chagall's unique iconography and continuing influence today. This is MOBIA's second volume in its new "Art and the Bible" series of exhibition brochures. Volumes in this series will continue to expound upon themes in art inspired by the Bible and will be produced for future MOBIA exhibitions.
A new and well-reviewed biography of Chagall has also recently been published:
"In it, Jackie Wullschlager explores in detail Chagall's complex relationship with Russia and makes clear the Russian dimension he brought to Western modernism. She shows how, as André Breton put it, "under his sole impulse, metaphor made its triumphal entry into modern painting," and helped shape the new surrealist movement. As art critic of the Financial Times, she provides a breadth of knowledge on Chagall's work, and at the same time as an experienced biographer she brings Chagall the man fully to life; ambitious, charming, suspicious, funny, contradictory, dependent, but above all obsessively determined to produce art of singular beauty and emotional depth."
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Deacon Blue - I'll Never Fall In Love Again.
2 comments:
Some of these Chagall paintings are Jewish themed, and some are very Christian themed. I always enjoy his work.
My view is that Chagall was a reconciler in his art uniting disparate imagery (personal, cultural, religious etc.) in harmonious compositions.
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