Between Heaven and Earth: Marc Chagall Exhibition in Istra
by Iolanta Andronova and Lisa Vyakhoreva
"My name is Marc, my emotional life is sensitive and my purse is empty, but they say I have talent"
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) is one of the world's most famous artists of the modern age. Today frequent exhibitions of his works attract people all around the world. Chagall's art is polyphonic: It combines cultural representations with the formal concerns of several modernist trends and an interest in the surreal and the grotesque.
The exhibition "Chagall: Between Heaven and Earth" opened in the New Jerusalem Museum (in a small town Istra) on 16 November, 2019. The marvellous exposition presents 239 works by the artist, stored in the museums and private collections of Russia, France, and Belarus.
The works currently displayed in the museum have been provided by the Marc Chagall Museum in Vitebsk, the National Museum of Marc Chagall in Nice, the National Center for Arts and Culture, Georges Pompidou, and the Museum of the History of Jews in Russia. The exhibition is open until March 8, 2020. The project is curated by Ekaterina Selezneva, a guest expert at the Marc Chagall Committee in Paris and an honored worker of culture of the Russian Federation.
The works currently displayed in the museum have been provided by the Marc Chagall Museum in Vitebsk, the National Museum of Marc Chagall in Nice, the National Center for Arts and Culture, Georges Pompidou, and the Museum of the History of Jews in Russia. The exhibition is open until March 8, 2020. The project is curated by Ekaterina Selezneva, a guest expert at the Marc Chagall Committee in Paris and an honored worker of culture of the Russian Federation.
| The exhibition's idea is expressed in Marc Chagall's quote: "Painting seemed to me some kind of window through which I flew into another world." The artist believed that he was "born between heaven and earth". Therefore, the main theme of this big exhibition is Jerusalem. The artist's glorified Jerusalem in heaven and the earth's Jerusalem seen alive. Photo: https://ru.wikipedia.org |
One of the best things about this exhibition is that you can see the artist's works in several genres: the paintings, graphics, and tapestries. In all of them there is Jerusalem as Chagall imagined it.
The exposition is divided into two parallel lines - chronological and thematic. The visitor travels through three multidimensional spaces - "Earthly Life" (paintings and graphics of the first quarter of the 20th century); "Travels and bridges" (works of the second quarter of the 20th century, connected with a trip to the Holy Land) and "Genesis of heaven" (works of the second half of the 20th century). Such division of the exhibition contributes to a better understanding of the chronology of Chagall's work.
The exposition also includes religious and household items, which surrounded Chagall in his youth and adult life. It is a perfect method to show the origins of the artist's work. And being surrounded by these objects, you can better experience the atmosphere in which the great artist grew up, lived and worked.
The exposition is divided into two parallel lines - chronological and thematic. The visitor travels through three multidimensional spaces - "Earthly Life" (paintings and graphics of the first quarter of the 20th century); "Travels and bridges" (works of the second quarter of the 20th century, connected with a trip to the Holy Land) and "Genesis of heaven" (works of the second half of the 20th century). Such division of the exhibition contributes to a better understanding of the chronology of Chagall's work.
The exposition also includes religious and household items, which surrounded Chagall in his youth and adult life. It is a perfect method to show the origins of the artist's work. And being surrounded by these objects, you can better experience the atmosphere in which the great artist grew up, lived and worked.
Special attention is drawn to two large landscapes - "The Wailing Wall" and "The Jerusalem wall next to the Gates of Mercy", which show that the author sought a realistic reflection of reality. These pictures prove that Jerusalem in Heaven was as dear to Chagall, as the real Jerusalem, which he saw with his own eyes in 1931. In the painting "The Wailing Wall" every stone, every brick, every detail is drawn in the finest way. At first glance, it is difficult to distinguish the painting from a real wall, which is another indication of Chagall's talent.
This exhibition is not just an opportunity for people to get acquainted with the work of a great artist, but a chance to explore the range of different artistic techniques used by Marc Chagall throughout his long career. We should mention that this exposition is one of the first exhibitions in Russia, emphasizing the Jewish essence and origin of Marc Chagall.
This exhibition is not just an opportunity for people to get acquainted with the work of a great artist, but a chance to explore the range of different artistic techniques used by Marc Chagall throughout his long career. We should mention that this exposition is one of the first exhibitions in Russia, emphasizing the Jewish essence and origin of Marc Chagall.
Chagall's paintings demonstrate how religious traditions and cultural spaces coexist and merge together. Admiring his pictures, you feel a complete immersion in the atmosphere of the floating city and the soft clouds. Being in the third sector of the exhibition "Genesis of heaven", you experience a full range of emotions from admiration to complete disappointment. This effect is achieved in part due to the breadth of space provided by the Museum for visitors.
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The only drawback of the exhibition is its location. Should you want to visit it, be ready to spend two hours in a car or a train to get to Istra. Though it is not a very short trip, the exhibition is totally worth it.
To make your visit more enjoyable, we recommend going to the museum on weekdays, when the New Jerusalem Museum is not crowded, giving you enough time to closely study the canvases. Don't forget your student or pension card to get a discount.
To make your visit more enjoyable, we recommend going to the museum on weekdays, when the New Jerusalem Museum is not crowded, giving you enough time to closely study the canvases. Don't forget your student or pension card to get a discount.
The exposition "Chagall: Between Heaven and Earth" is an unforgettable experience for both ordinary visitors and true connoisseurs of Chagall's art.
