Marc ChagallBorn: July 7, 1887Died: March 28, 1985

Chagall’s Life He was born in

Liozna, Russia. He was the oldest of

nine children. He studied art in St.

Petersburg, Russia where he had to sneak into the city because Jews were not allowed there.

(1887-1985) The Promenade

Chagall’s Life He left Russia for France to study art.

He returned to Russia to marry Bella Rosenfeld; and many years later returned back to France and onto Berlin, Germany to sell his artwork.

With the rise of Nazi forces in Europe, Chagall fled to the United States. Chagall was saved by having his name added to a list of prominent artists to be extricated to the United States.

After losing his wife to a virus in 1944 he returned to France and lived out the rest of his life and his very successful art career.

(1887-1985) Lovers in the Moonlight

Chagall’s Art His early works were realistic

with a limited palette of dark colors.

Although he was influenced by Cubist artists who broke their pictures up into geometric shapes, Chagall developed his own personal style of painting..

His paintings became filled with a wider, brighter range of colors used in wild ways- cows were red, people were green-and there was dreamy feeling of fantasy, with people floating around his busy canvases.

The Sun of Paris (1975)

Are these colors realistic?What are the strangest

colors?

Chagall’s Art Chagall was a popular

ad leading innovator of the twentieth century school of Paris and distinguished as a master of conveying visual stories.

He was one of most successful artist of the 20th Century and created a unique career in virtually every artistic medium, including paintings, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, tapestries and fine art prints.

Paris Through the Window (1913)

What do you think this painting means?

Vocabulary Definitions Unity

Openness, consistency or integration. Unity happens when all the elements in a design work together harmoniously.

Space Space is the element that surrounds

us. Forms have substance and occupy space. Occupied space is called positive space. Unoccupied space is called negative space. An artist considers both positive and negative space in creating an artwork.

Romeo and Juliet (1964)

How do you think space and unity are used in this

picture?

Vocabulary Definitions

Cubism Objects are broken up, analysed, and

re-assembled in an abstracted form—instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context. Often the surfaces intersect at seemingly random angles, removing a coherent sense of depth. The background and object planes interpenetrate one another to create the shallow ambiguous space, one of cubism's distinct characteristics.

Fauvism A short-lived and loose grouping of

early 20th century modern artist whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour.

Golgotha (1912)

Here is an example of cubism.

Vocabulary Definitions

Shapes Flat figures created when actual

or implied lines meet to enclose a space. A change in color or shading can define a shape. Shapes can be divided into several types: geometric (square, triangle, circle) and organic (irregular in outline).

Patterns Choices of lines, colors or

shapes, repeated over and over in a planned way. Also, models or guides for making something.

Wedding (1910)

What shapes and patterns do you see?

Chagall’s I and the Village This painting is based on

memories of his childhood in a small Russian village.

The picture is full of real and make-believe images.

The artist has painted tender expressions on the faces of the man and the animal. Their eyes are joined by a thin line.

Near the top of the picture (in the background) is a row of village houses and a domed church.

I and the Village - Design Elements

Lines There is a dotted line between the

eye of the donkey and the boy. What do you think that means? What other lines do you see?

Shape Imagine why the artist painted

some of the smaller shapes inside the larger ones. Why are some shapes upside down?

Colors Are the colors realistic? What are

the strangest ones?

I and the Village - Design Elements

Textures and Patterns Where has the artist created

textures or patterns? Which look invented? Which look real?

Space Is the feeling of space like that of

a real scene? Which parts look very near? Which parts look far away? Why?

Unity The artist unified his painting by

using four main colors – white, red, blue and green. He also planned the painting so all the larger shapes meet near the center.

Chagall’s Quotes “My art is an extravagant art, a flaming

vermilion, a blue soul flooding over my paintings‘”

“All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.”

“Great art picks up where nature ends.” When asked why his paintings had flying or

floating objects, his reply was “I often paint the way things ‘feel’.”

What We Will Be Doing We will create a unified drawing of

some things you like to remember. Remember unity means that all the

parts fit together like parts of a puzzle

On your paper, draw some very large lines and shapes to divide the picture space and help to unify the smaller, more detailed scenes.

Remember These Things Smaller drawing can be

planned inside the spaces to show other thing you like to remember.

The scenes or objects should be easily identified without labels or explanation.

Rotate your paper to draw the smaller scenes inside other scenes.

Unify your work by using three or four main colors, varying the pressure on the crayon, mixing colors or adding textures and patterns.

Remember to sign and date your artwork!