Marc Chagall (7 July 1887 – 28 March 1985) was one of the most successful artists of the twentieth century. Considered to be one of the prominent vanguards of large modern art movements such as cubism, he synthesized several art forms and contributed to the rise of Surrealism.
As a pioneer of modernism and one of the greatest figurative artists of the twentieth century, Marc Chagall achieved fame and fortune, and over the course of a long career created some of the best-known and most-loved paintings of our time. According to art historian Michael J. Lewis, Chagall was considered to be “the last survivor of the first generation of European modernists.”
Jackie Wullschlager, in her book, "Chagall, A Biography" says Chagall played on "every radical trend, every jarring dislocation" of the early 20th century, but he comes off as virtually untouched. Regardless of his artistic influences, he carried his same iconography of narrative subjects - cows, chickens, rabbis, clocks, fish, flowers, steeples - wherever he went.
As a boy he had loved geometry: "Lines, angles, triangles, squares," he would later recall, "carried me far away to enchanting horizons." This affinity for geometric disjunctions paved his way as he established a unique career in virtually every artistic medium. From his early Cubist paintings to his book illustrations, stage sets, ceramics, stained glass windows, tapestries and fine art prints, Chagall's haunting, exuberant, and poetic images have enjoyed universal appeal. In 1946, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, recognized this and gave him a retrospective.
Baterbys Art Auction Gallery highlights Marc Chagall as one of its featured artists in the upcoming Spring 2009 Live Auction to be held in our gallery at Pointe Orlando. His enduring contribution to the forging of modern art is a movement on its own. View one of his timeless pieces in our auction preview.
