Chagall's works with biblical and Jewish motifs arrive in Korea

Marc Chagall's "Le Roi David en Bleu" (1967) / Courtesy of Marc Chagall / ADAGP, Paris ― SACK, Seoul, 2021

By Park Han-sol

Russian-French artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) and his world of dreamlike enchantment, achieved through a palette of ripe, saturated colors, have long been admired by audiences worldwide.

"When Matisse dies," Picasso once said, "Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is."

Korea has certainly been no exception in terms of its interest in the artist, indicated by the number of retrospectives and exhibitions held in celebration of his masterpieces, most notably since the early 2000s.

But what has been lesser known about Chagall among Korean art enthusiasts is the religious nature of a number of his works ― more precisely, biblical themes and visual motifs that often run through his oeuvre, inspired by his Jewish upbringing.

My Art Museum's "Chagall and the Bible" exhibition, in Gangnam District, Seoul, brings to light one of the most prominent sources of the artist's creative endeavors through more than 220 original artworks. These pieces include a large collection from Germany's Kunstmuseum Pablo Picasso Munster, 19 oil and gouache paintings owned by Chagall's family and two, nearly four-meter-wide tapestries that are being shown in Asia for the first time.

"Many paintings of Chagall, who was born to a Hasidic Jewish family, have their roots in the Bible ― even the ones that do not have overtly religious undertones," the museum official told The Korea Times.

"Because many of the visual, thematic motifs featured in his works ― his love for his heritage, homeland and humankind, for example ― come from his religious background and sentiments, we wanted to introduce this aspect of the artist to art lovers."

The fact that a number of his works without explicit religious themes are still influenced by his Jewish ethnic and cultural background prompted the museum to start its exhibition with the section, "Motif of Chagall."

While the following sections feature pieces that directly draw from biblical scenes and figures, "Motif of Chagall" presents his more familiar-looking, fantastical pieces, leaving it up to gallerygoers to find the subtle connections between the visual symbols of love, the Russian village and folklore, and the artist's spiritual ideals.

Born in the small city of Vitebsk, now in Belarus but then part of the Russian Empire, Chagall moved to Paris in 1910, with his early works, showing both the Fauvist and Cubist influences that were emerging as the leading avant-garde art movements at the time. But he continued to paint Jewish motifs and subjects, mainly summoned from his own memories of his homeland.

Chagall's "Jerusalem, le mur des lamentations" (1931) / Courtesy of Marc Chagall / ADAGP, Paris ― SACK, Seoul, 2021

In 1930, famed French art dealer, Ambroise Vollard, commissioned Chagall to produce a series of etchings illustrating scenes from the Old Testament. Thus began his long and arduous artistic research of the Bible, including his first visit to the Holy Land.

Although he was not a religious Jew, he was deeply moved by the Wailing Wall and other sacred places, later writing, "And in the East I found the Bible and a part of my very being." Since then, he delved deeply into Jewish history for years, as well as their trials and tribulations, finding many interpretations of biblical motifs for his 105 etchings.

His other later works included stained glass windows for cathedrals, tapestries and lithographs. In 1973, the Marc Chagall National Museum, dedicated to his works with biblical messages, was established in Nice.

The exhibition, "Chagall and the Bible," runs through April 10, 2022, at My Art Museum.

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