Marc Chagall

He married Bella Rosenfeld in 1915. They had a daughter whose name was Ida. Bella acted as the model for his famous series of paintings that depict passionate flying figures. Bella died in 1944.

He tied the nuptial knot for the second time with Valentina Brodsky in 1952. He dedicated his last painting titled “Job” to all disabled people of the world. He passed away at the age of 97 in Saint-Paul de Vence, France.

Born as Moishe Segal, Marc Chagall was the eldest of nine children of Khatskl Shagal, and Feige-Ite. He belonged to a Lithuanian Jewish family in Liozna, Belarus.

He received his early education at Jewish elementary school. Later he studied at a public school. He started working as a photo-retoucher at the photo studio of Meshchanivov in Vitebsk.

For a brief period he used to sing as a cantor’s assistant at the Zarechenskaya synagogue in Vitebsk where he also learnt to play violin. For two months, he learnt painting under Yehuda Pen in Vitebsk.

After reaching St. Petersburg in 1907, he studied art under Nicolai Roerich at the Imperial Society of Art Supporters. Later, he took painting lessons from Leon Bakst and Mstislav Doboujinsky.

From 1910 to 1914, he lived in Paris where he worked for Russian-Jewish lawyer Maxim Vinaver. During his stay in La Ruche, he came in contact with personalities like A. Salmon, M. Jacob and Robert Delaunay.

This was the time when he became acquainted with new styles of Cubism, Fauvism, Surrealism and other avant-garde currents being created by Pablo Picasso, George Braque and several prominent artists of that era.

When he visited Germany in 1914, he became familiarized with the artistic experiments of Wassily Kandinsky. He organized his first solo show in Berlin’s Strum gallery. Later, he returned to Russia when the World War I started.

After the Russian Revolution in 1917, he served as the Commissar of Arts in Vitebsk Province. At that time, he played an active part to organize the Vitebsk Art School. He also taught at this school.

After shifting to Moscow in 1920, he played a crucial role in the stage productions of Moscow Jewish Theatre and worked there as the Art Director from 1920 to 1922.

His works of stained glass reflects his innovative creativity where one can see a perfect amalgamation of fresh colours and natural light with its constantly changing refraction. The windows of Metz Cathedral, France are the proof of his praiseworthy works on stained glass.

Under the direction of Yvette Cauquil-Prince, a skilled craftswoman of Belgium, he designed three tapestries for the state hall of the Knesset in Israel and these tapestries also included 12 floor mosaics and a wall mosaic.