Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and his Circle is a brilliant exhibit currently featured in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. On display is an range of works illustrating the richness of the modern art movement in Paris during the early twentieth century. In this show, Chagall’s feature paintings are supplemented by the work of his colleagues and teachers. This affords the audience a deeper understanding of the artist’s unique style and background. 

Upon entering the gallery, the viewer is transported by the artwork to lively, bustling twentieth-century Paris. Across from the entrance, on one wall, Paris Through the Window, 1913—the exhibit’s title painting—is a splendid example of Chagall’s vibrant color and form. Opposite is another significant piece by Chagall, Half Past Three (The Poet), 1911. These larger paintings hang separately, allowing the viewer to absorb their rich content and helping to set the stage for the rest of the show. Works by the artist’s friends and influences, such as Metzinger and Delaunay, are displayed on nearby walls. They provide an opportunity to begin to understand Chagall’s initial inspiration, upon his arrival to Paris from his hometown of Vitebsk, Russia. fine arts magazine 

Paris Through the Window is an autobiographical work, depicting a man overlooking a Parisian landscape, engaging the energy of the city which Chagall was then experiencing. This masterpiece is an array of beautiful color, line and fantastical imagery. The poetic manner in which the composition’s space is created invites the viewer to take apart its elements. First, the multi-colored window, leads the eye to Chagall’s interpretation of Paris. Here, the Eiffel tower, a symbol of modernity and inspiration to many poets and artists, is accompanied by a man suspended in mid-air. A horizontal couple floats over a white fog, with the city behind it. To the left is an upside down train painted in neutral tones, in contrast to the bright window. The blue, Janus- faced man in the foreground is looking both “west- to modernity and progress, and east to Russia, where he is from,” suggests Philadelphia Museum of Art, Curator Michael Taylor. Chagall’s compositions are poetic, creating “visual moments within each image,” he continues. In this particular piece, these moments can be found in such elements as the upside down train, the bouquet of flowers, or the heart in the hand of the male figure. 

Half Past Three, is another highlight of the exhibition– a scene of everyday life, a portrait of a poet having a drink. Chagall transforms the image into fractured planes of light and color. The subtle floral pattern is reminiscent of Russian folklore. A multicolored signature is embedded in one of the planes on the bottom of the work. Elements like these continue to intrigue the viewer time and time again. Michael Taylor reminds me that “the artist did not arrive in Paris fully formed, despite his earlier academic training in Vitebsk and St. Petersburg.”The influence of Cubism and Modernity is evident within the work itself, but the supplement of Delaunay’s Eiffel Tower, dating to 1909 and Metzinger’s Time (Woman with a Teaspoon) 1911, on the flanking walls, enrich the viewing experience, as well as the understanding the ground-breaking initiative in the artistic community at that time. 

The second room is dedicated to La Ruche, a studio complex where many Eastern European artists lived alongside Chagall during his time in Paris. Located in the then-remote suburb of Paris, Montparnasse’s La Ruche was laid out in the shape of a beehive,. Because of its cheap rent, it soon became a thriving community of artists. This section of the gallery displays paintings of Alexander Archipenko, Moise Kisling, Moise Kogan, Jacques Lipchitz, Chaim Soutine, and Ossip Zadkine. Studies and several works on paper by Chagall are intermingled with paintings and sculptures of those artists from La Ruche. 

One of the pieces on view, is a splendid collage by Alexander Archipenko’s, In the Boudoir (Before the Mirror), 1915. It is an intriguing low relief work, which invites the viewer to examine it from all sides. It features elements of cubism, and refers to the work of Picasso, Braque, and Juan Gris. The bright, saturated color is a result of Archipenko’s Ukrainian upbringing. On the lower left corner is a collaged element- a photograph placed on the dressing table. Modigliani’s figures and sculptures are also a fantastic addition to the exhibit. Many of the artists practiced painting, sculpture, drawing and poetry simultaneously, creating an openly-experimental work environment. 

Chagall’s highlight piece from his time at La Ruche is To My Betrothed, 1911, a mixed media painting of a woman intertwined with a large bull, drawing on the theme of beauty and beast. The artist integrates saturated reds, evocative of the carnal nature of the scene.  Taylor suggests that the proximity of the Vaugirard slaughterhouses, as well as paper thin walls of La Ruche through which the sexual habits of the residents were heard, most likely served as the inspiration for the piece. The phallic form of the lamp on the lower right-hand corner actually created controversy for the artist, in 1912 at the Salon des Independants, when he was forced to cover it up with gold paint. 

Of course, the history of La Ruche has a tragic side. Chagall once said that “in La Ruche, you died or came out famous,” which was true of both the poverty that many artists there experienced, as well as the later anti-Semitic oppression by the Nazis. The artist, Moise Kogan, refused to leave Paris in 1940, and was susequently sent to Auschwitz, where he died. 

It is impossible to experience this exhibition without mentioning the section dedicated to Ballet Russes, the Russian ballet that gained massive popularity in Paris at the time. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it was indeed regarded as the greatest ballet of the 20th century. Chagall received training in St. Petersburg from the poet Nicholas Roerich, who was commissioned by Diaghilev to design costumes and sets for the ballet. Later, when Chagall enrolled in another St. Petersburg school, he studied under Leon Bakst, also a stage designer. Bakst proved to be a great inspiration and role model to Chagall. The young artist assisted Bakst with set designs, specifically Tcherepnin’s ballet Narcissus, performed in Paris in 1911. Curator Taylor says that, “Paris had not seen anything like the Ballet Russes, and was duly mesmerized by the beautiful costumes, set designs and music.” 

Works on paper, created as studies for set designs, fill the left wall of the Ballet Russes section, along with a table display of printed publications from the period. Bright colors and patterns reminiscent of Russian folklore fill these pieces. On view are paintings by Roerich Our Forefathers (1911) and Bakst The Pilgrim (1911) who were Chagall’s instructors. The drawings of costume and stage design by artists such as Karsavina and Larcionov depict otherworldly extravagance, which was a big part of Ballet Russes. Décor for the Ballet Le Loleil de Nuit (1915), a study by Mikhail Larionov, is a colorful painting of suns, which were 6 feet in size, rotating above the stage during the dance. “At the time there was a vogue for all things Russian, as well as playing on folk culture,” notes Michael Taylor. 

Following Chagall’s successful exhibition in Berlin in 1914, he decided to visit home in Vitebsk. Unfortunately, due to the war, he could not return to Paris and was forced to remain in Russia, where he created some of his most expressionistic and heart- wrenching works. Wounded Soldier, 1914, was Chagall’s response to the war. It is a dark portrait of a suffering man, painted in greenish, deathly hues. The Smolensk Newspaper of 1914, depicts two men– one younger and one noticeably older– confronted with the news of war. Ironically, on the right side of this work, a mezuzah, containing a prayer for God’s blessing from the Jewish tradition, is represented. An eerie green hue hovering over the surface is suggestive of death. Over Vitebsk (1914), is one of Chagall’s most famous paintings from this period. A larger-than-life beggar floats over that gloomy town, drifting behind the snow- laden buildings—an ominous figure symbolizes poverty and desolation in the war-time era. 

Not all works completed during Chagall’s stay at Vitebsk dealt with war, however. In 1916 he was commissioned to create a mural for a Jewish Secondary School in Petrograd. Though the murals were never actually completed, the studies alone turned out to be bright and cheerful depictions of the festivals, painted in a faux-naïve style, suitably childlike. Purim is the Jewish festival celebrating the people’s deliverance from massacre, plotted by the Persian King Ahasuerus and his minister Haman. The painting Purim, portrays two figures about to exchange gifts, as tradition dictates. Though this is a work about a Jewish custom, the setting is evocative of a Russian village, rendered in warm, red colors. 

Though known as a master of color, Chagall suffered a desperate time in which he painted a gnarly, ghostly self- portrait titled Oh God, in 1919. A figure with head rotating is in a state of distress, it was rendered in an eerie white against a black background. This piece was created after Chagall established the Vitebsk People’s Art School and invited Russian avant-garde members to teach there. El lissitzki and Malevich did not share Chagall’s ideas on the direction of modern art, and ended up pushing the founder out of his own school. The rotating head, previously seen in Half Past Three as a leisurely scene, here conveys a state of suffering, with small faded crosses painted in the background, and the seemingly hastily scrawled Cyrillic  phrase, ‘Oh God.’ 

When Chagall was finally able to return to Paris, the city was having “a great moment of printmaking,” according to curator, Michael Taylor. He began illustrating books such as Gogol’s Dead Souls and Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables. An illustration from the Fables is featured in the exhibit, entitled, The Watering Trough. This is a scene of a woman holding a trough next to a pig with a sly expression on its face. The color in this work is masterful, typical of his second residence in Paris. The light foliage at the top emerges through a deep, rich purple, then seamlessly transitions into a saturated blue. Taylor points out that from afar, the figure appears white and colorless, but up-close, one will see a delicate pattern on the dress. 

The show’s last room features the work– part of the School of Paris,–of a group of émigré painters and sculptors, including former La Ruche members -Kisling, Lipchitz, Modigliani, Soutine, Zadkine, as well as Marcussis, Orloff and Pascin. Though these artists all worked in very different styles and movements, they huddled together in order to resist anti-Semitic oppression. Taylor states that, “this was the first Avant Garde not based on style but identity.” With the arrival of WWII, Chagall was forced to flee Europe like many of his colleagues. In 1941 with the help of Allred H. Barr– then director of MOMA– he safely arrived in the United States with his family. 

The last piece of Chagall’s work in the exhibit is In the Night, a painting from a series of wedding portraits. Here, the artist blends interior and exterior, depicting a couple embracing in the snowy town of Vitebsk. The work was completed from memory, incorporating elements of the artist’s imagination, such as a cow jumping over houses, an orthodox church, and a lamp hanging over the couple, a symbol of eternal light. 

Over 70 paintings, sculptures and works on paper comprise this exhibition, emphasizing the prolific creativity of that time. Many of those featured are owned by the Museum, which has the largest collection of Chagall’s early paintings in the United States. While the focus of the event is on Marc Chagall himself, it is especially instructive to view his paintings within the context of his colleagues’ work, as well. Extraordinarily—though he was part of a close-knit artist community—Chagall’s style remained distinctly his own. This spectacular show examines and reflects the sources of his training, his close work environment with other artists, as well as the tragic world events of his time. The exhibition reveals the truly rich, unique style of Marc Chagall. 

By Ekaterina Popova, Contributing Writer 

Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and his Circle (now through July 10, 2011) has been the Museum’s contribution to the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA), inspired by the Kimmel Center, on the theme of Paris 1910-1920. 

http://www.philamuseum.org/ 

See 16 video ‘Exhibition Minutes’ at http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/401.html

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Illustration caption detail below: 

1. Marc Chagall, Paris Through the Window (Paris par la fenêtre), 1913. French (born Belorussia), 1887-1985. Oil on canvas, 53 1/2 x 55 3/4 inches (135.9 x 141.6 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. 

2. Marc Chagall, Half-Past Three (The Poet), 1911. Oil on canvas, 77 1/8 x 57 inches (195.9 x 144.8 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950. © ArtistsRights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. 

 3. Robert Delauney, Eiffel Tower, c. 1909. Robert Delaunay, French, 1885-1941. Oil on canvas, 38 x 27 3/4 inches (96.5 x70.5 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950. 

4. Chaim Soutine, Woman in Red, c. 1927?30., French (born Lithuania), 1893 ? 1943. Oil on canvas, 25 9/16 x 19 3/4 inches (64.9 x 50.2 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1963. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 

5. Leon Bakst, The Pilgrim, 1911. Leon Bakst, Russian, 1866 ? 1924. Gouache and metallic paint with graphite on paper, Sheet: 26 1/2 x 19 1/4 inches (67.3 x 48.9 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, Bequest of Margaretta S. Hinchman, 1955. 

6. Marc Chagall, Over Vitebsk, c. 1914. Oil, gouache, graphite, and ink on paper, Sheet: 12 3/8 x 15 3/4 inches (31.4 x 40 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1963. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 

7. Marc Chagall, Purim, c. 1916-17. Oil on canvas, 19 7/8 x 28 5/16 inches (50.5 x 71.9 cm) Framed: 30 1/4 x 38 3/4 x 3 3/8 inches (76.8 x 98.4 x 8.6 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louis E. Stern Collection, 

8. Marc Chagall, Oh God, 1919. Oil and distemper on paper, mounted on cardboard, 22 3/4 x 18 5/16 inches (57.8 x 46.5 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1963. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 

9. Marc Chagall, The Watering Trough, 1923. Oil on canvas, 39 1/4 x 34 11/16 inches (99.7 x 88.1 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1963. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 

10. Marc Chagall, In the Night, 1943. Oil on canvas, 18 1/2 x 20 5/8 inches (47 x 52.4 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1963. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 

11. Amedeo Modigliani , Portrait of a Polish Woman, 1919., Italian, 1884 – 1920. Oil on canvas, 39 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches (100.3 x 64.8 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1963.