National Museum in Warsaw has recently opened a new exhibition of Marc Chagall’s works on paper, composed mostly of post-World War II paintings. The exposition is accompanied by an album “Marc Chagall. Everything is Painting” and a series of lectures on the painter’s life and his oeuvre. It will be open for visitors until July 24th, 2022.
Exhibition ‘Chagall’ consists of 14 newly-purchased works of Marc Chagall from the post-World War II period and some paintings that the Museum owned beforehand. Some of the artworks present people, other still life and animals, while part of them are abstract visualisations of the scenes from Old Testament. The exposition was curated by Anna Manicka, a museologist and expert in the graphics of the interwar period and the catastrophic theme in 20th-century art.
The program of the exhibition is rich in lectures about the inspirations behind Chagall’s artworks and important events in his life, such as his marriages, migrations and revolutions.
On May 5th, Anna Manicka will talk about Chagall’s works in relation to the dominant art movements during his life and his dislike of them. On May 13th, Aleksandra Kresowska will recall Chagall’s childhood in Vitebsk (today’s Belarus) and explain how growing up in a Hasidic family influenced his beliefs and creative process. About his later life and the horrors of two World Wars will tell Przemysław Głowacki on June 23rd. You can see the full program here.
In addition to the exhibition is a reference book “Marc Chagall. Everything is a Painting” with reproductions of all artworks of Chagall purchased for the National Museum’s collection. You can see them in a promotional video of the display below.