Mar.29 (Sat), 2008 – Sep.7 (Sun), 2008

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) is one of the leading artists of the twentieth century and the Pola Museum of Art is pleased to present Chagall: My Stories, an exhibition that will introduce the museum’s entire collection of this important artist’s work. Through twenty-one oil paintings and watercolors, ten illustrated books, and his writings, we will follow the many joys and sorrows in the story of Chagall’s life.

When Chagall was thirty-five years old he published his memoirs in the book Ma Vie. In it he writes of his birth, life as a youth in the Russian village of Vitebsk, his first years as an artist in Paris, and of his final farewell from Russia. For Chagall, writing was no different from painting, and the private memories of life and love he spelled out in prose and poetry mirrored those he portrayed in his art works. He also created many illustrated books in which his pictures accompany myths, tales of the Bible, and episodes from his life. In addition to his memoirs, his thoughts on art and life are gathered in a selection of his numerous magazine, newspaper, radio, and television interviews and the many lectures he gave. Scholars have often quoted from this valuable material and searched in it for clues to interpret the stories Chagall unfolds in his imagery.

Chagall’s birthplace of Vitebsk provides the backdrop for the majority of the artist’s paintings and watercolors in the Pola Museum of Art collection. As one of his most significant themes, Vitebsk, with its lovers, flowers, and circuses, represents the roots of both the man and the artist.

In five segments, the exhibition offers visitors a view of Chagall’s world in images and words:Chagall and Stories of Vitebsk; Bouquet of Love; The Circus—Dance in a Ring of Color; Chagall’s Prints—Stories of Life; and Chagall’s Prints—Stories of Gods.