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There is a funny section on a video on Chagall at the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibition (I wrote about the exhibition here), where he takes insult at critics calling his paintings in the Paris Opera "naive." He says that naive implies child-like, which to him means unintelligent (at least in the mature, grown man). I don't know how he got commissioned to paint the Paris Opera ceiling (here is a video in French where he is interviewed about his choices, his method, and the very difficult way the work is assembled. I will translate it as soon as I can, but the 1960s French, articulate and formal, is interesting to listen to). I have to agree with the critics that his paintings don't really belong in the Paris Opera. Perhaps his murals are a better fit in the more modern Lincoln Center.
Apart from this small corner of criticism, the Chagall exhibition is a dreamy, whimsical journey through fantasy and color, where beasts merge with humans, and colors have jewel-like intensity. Embracing couples are tucked away in indigo night skies. Bouquets of flowers adorn the canvas. Anthropomorphic beasts roam farms and cities alike. The Wandering Jew, with his worldly belongings in a sac hanging on a stick, floats in hostile skies, trying to find a permanent home. A crucified Christ is covered with a Jewish prayer cloth. The domes of the Russian Orthodox Church are everywhere, sometimes with two or three churches in a single painting. Exile in Paris does not erase memories of Russia, and even the Eiffel Tower is surrounded by Chagall's small town, Russian, Jewish roots. And the ever-present violin provides an eternal, silent accompaniment. It is a beautiful show.
I don't think I'm biased when I say that the painting I've described in previous posts - Couple of Dancers - is the most radiant. It is a tiny piece, only 16 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches, unlike many of the paintings which covered the height of the wall, but it glowed like a solitary jewel.
The exhibition is on loan from the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Fittingly, there is a black and white enlarged photo of President Georges Pompidou near the entrance.
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