Chagall

Taschen Basic Art

by Jacob Baal-Teshuva, Giuseppe Chiappetta (Translator)

Henry Miller once described Marc Chagall as a "poet with the wings of a painter." The pages of Chagall are filled with images that prove the writer's words true. Though Chagall is remembered primarily as a painter, his artistic vision expressed itself in many other forms, including sculpture, mosaics, and the stained glass windows that grace the Art Institute of Chicago as well as synagogues and churches in both Europe and the United States. The volume affords readers glimpses of his profligate work as well as the opportunity to follow Chagall as he moved from his early years in Russia to Paris, the United States, and back to France. During that time, his painting flirted with the various art movements around him--surrealism and fauvism most notably--but his dominant themes remained constant throughout the seven decades that he made art. Chagall's mysticism, his deep religious sentiment, and his playfulness are revealed in the hundreds of full-color images lushly reproduced in this volume. The commentary provided by Chagall scholar and friend Jacob Baal-Teshuva expertly guides readers through the artist's various moods and media and underscores the passion of belief and feeling that informed all of his artwork.

277 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1995

Reviews

[Öykü Özer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ressam olma hayaliyle genç yaşta St. Petersburg'a gidip, yokluktan dolayı burada bırakın bir daire veya bir oda kiralamayı bir işçiyle aynı yatağı kiralayan Chagall, seneler sonra meşhur olduğunda "satan" resimlerini tekrar tekrar dönüştürerek yeniden resmeden bir tüccar ve neredeyse kendisinden başka yaşayan hiçbir ressamı beğenmeyen kibirli biri olarak algılanmış pek çoklarınca. 20. yüzyılın büyük sanat akımlarının ortaya çıkıp kök saldığı bir dönemde hiçbir akıma açıktan ya da gizlice dahil olmamış. Yahudi bir ressam olmasına ve eserlerinde Yahudiliğe dair temalar bulunmasına karşın pek çok çarmıha gerilmiş İsa resmi bulunuyor ve bu nedenle Yahudi cemaatince yoğun bir biçimde eleştirilmiş. Kısacası Chagall, hepimiz gibi gri bir karakter, siyah ya da beyaz değil. Ressamı yakından tanıyan bir yazar tarafından kaleme alınmış olan kitap bu griliği ortaya koymak konusunda oldukça başarılı.

[Igor Raikhelgauz · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a saying in Russian: "One of their own among strangers. A stranger among his own". This is so true about Chagall, as Baal-Teshuva carefully points out. A native of Belorussian Jewish "shtetl" - a world he left never to return. Even when he came to visit USSR in 1970s, he refused to go to Vitebsk - his world of "shtetl" no longer existed. He loved Russia, and so longed for it to love him back. Alas. A great French painter - a national treasure, yet always looked down upon by "the true French", because he was a Russian Jew or perhaps better suited for Israel, in their opinion. Love Israel he did. But he never went to live there. His tapestries decorate the main hall of Knesset. Yet his relationship with State of Israel was strained. He always argued strongly that art has no nationality or ethnicity. Yet his paintings were so undeniably Jewish, one could even say hassidic if hassidism had not been so suspicious of painters as such. And then again, so much criticism he had to endure from fellow Jews for painting all those crucifictions and decorating churches. He loved and understood the Bible so deeply. They planned his Biblical Message Meseum to be in Jerusalem. Yet he donated his paintings to France and had the museum built there. "The Jews know all about the Bible already", he explained. "It is the goyim (the nations) who need to learn". A great man. A difficult man. A man I can so much identify with for always being a stranger among his own.

This book is everything I expected it to be. A concise overview of Chagall's life by an author who actually knew him personally. Lots of quality illustrations. Not a very deep analysis from art theory perspective, but a good start for someone who, like me, wants to learn as much as possible about Marc Chagall and his art.

[Karina Samyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Het is tegenwoordig zo vanzelfsprekend de natuur te negeren. Die houding doet me denken aan het soort mensen dat je nooit in de ogen kijkt. Ik word daar ongemakkelijk van en moet mijn blik steeds afwenden." Marc Chagall

Wat is het leuk om op latere leeftijd iets te ontdekken dat je begeestert! Voor mij is dit moderne kunst. Door toedoen van twee dierbare vrienden die los van elkaar mijn interesse wekten, ging ik nader kijken en ontdekken (ik was voordien bij Van Eyck, hoogstens Brueghel blijven steken). Ik was dan ook in de wolken toen ik in december in La Piscine in Roubaix de werken van Marc Chagall leerde kennen. Wat een explosie van kleuren, van fantasie, van joodse mystiek! Ze openen de deur naar de verloren wereld van sjtetls, rabbijnen, vioolspelers, donkere huisjes in het oosten van Europa. Ik genoot dan ook bij het lezen van dit boek en de prachtige reproducties.
Mooi gezegd door Thomas Graven over Chagall : een zwerver poezië en de pathos van de ontwortelde ziel. Misschien raakt zijn kunst me daarom zo.

[Barb Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chagall was one of the most creative and productive artists of the 20th century. In his 97 years , not only did he paint great masterpieces, he mastered new materials like ceremaics, sculptured, created mosaics and tapestries, and fabulous stained glass windows, theater and stage sets .Born in Russia and Jewish much of his art depicts his early life in Russia and is drawn from his religous upbringing.

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a minor collector of art I do not have a huge liking for Marc Chagall's works but thought it would be interesting to study some of them and read about him as I knew nothing of him, other than his name. It proved worthwhile for not only did it give me a background to his life and work, it convinced me that I will not go out of my way to acquire a print for my walls! That is no disrespect to his talent as he is obviously a well-respected and very capable artist.

He was born in what is now Belarus but studied at the Imperial Society for the Promotion of the Arts in St Petersburg before going to Paris when he was 23 and that was where he first exhibited at Salon des Indépendants in 1911 before he held his first solo exhibition in 1914. From then on his art career blossomed.

The 14 examples of his work in this folio volume and of them he states, 'If the viewer discovers a symbol in my picture, that is something I did not intend. It is a result I have not looked for. It is something that takes place afterwards and which one can interpret according to taste.' And some of these painting do require some interpretation, such as 'The cow with the umbrella'. Like others in the collection this one adopts one of his stylistic devices which is the substitution of mankind with an animal.

One interesting comment he makes in the caption of 'Flowers and Feathers' of 1943 is 'But perhaps my art is the art of a lunatic' a comment that I would not dare to go along with ... but I can see what he means! However, perhaps my favourite among the collection is a more traditional 'Lovers with half moon', which features a man and lady in an embrace with a half moon shining above.

He also says in the caption to that last mentioned work, 'Impressionism and Cubism are alien to me. It seems to me that art is first and foremost a condition of the soul.' Whilst I am no professional art critic, I would agree he is definitely not an Impressionist but it could be said that there is the occasional hint of Cubism in some of his works. But overall, it was an interesting book in that I have learn something about the artist and viewed some of his works ... it could be quite a while before I view any others!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A relatively quick biography of Chagall and some art criticism of his works. I liked his use of colors, but he is not my favorite artist. Although some of his more-famous pieces, such as "I and the Village" and "White Crucifixion", are nice, I liked his more mystical love ones. My favorite of his though was the more black and white painting called "The Praying Jew."

[Ben Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rich sample of a frankly overwhelming corpus. Chagall's ouvre emerges powerfully from the selected works. The beautifully reproduced images are (appropriately) the star of the show. The text is workmanlike and ably sketches the biographical context of Chagall's work but does not provide any insight beyond the conventional.

[Sophie (RedheadReading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I deeply enjoyed Chagall's memoir My Life recently, but it was a bit light on the actual autobiographical detail so it was really interesting to dip into this and discover more. I am particularly delighted to know more about his stained glass, ceramics, mosaics and tapestry as his later exploration of different mediums really appeals. Overall this was a great exploration of an interesting artist!

[Albertine67 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really do not want to return this book to the library! Such a beautifully produced book: the quality of the reproductions is superb, and covers his entire career. Text is really helpful, though the sections which cover the period after his death, which are organised thematically, seem a bit random and thin in comparison to those covering his life/work together. Fantastic.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because Chagall is my all-time favorite.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too Dry!

[Alexa]

Marc Chagall (Portfolio) by Jacob Baal-Teshuva (2006)

[Damián · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otro gran pintor y obviamente otro de mis preferidos. Libro que será devorado a la brevedad.

[Juan Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of beautiful paintings. The text in Spanish is very informative although a little bit disorganized and some editing could be done.

[Cibernetes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It´s a beautiful book. I wanted to know more about Marc Chagall. My curiosity was satisfied.