One of the famous masters of the 20th century French ‘Modern Art’ of Belarusian-Jewish origin, Marc Chagall (July 1887-March 1985), used primary and secondary colors with different techniques to create a unique painting. He would use various shapes and symbols to grab the viewers attention for detailed analysis. One of Marc Chagall’s most famous paintings is “I and the People”, painted in Paris in 1911.
Marc Chagall’s most famous painting “I and the Village” seems to tell a little fairy tale in a rural area, his hometown precisely. Measuring 192.1 cm × 151.4 cm (75 in × 59 in), this oil on canvas portrays the artist’s memories of the Hasidic community, a native community present outside of Vitebsk. This painting is inspired by Marc’s Jewish life and his Russian childhood. Reflecting his emotions well, “I and the Village” is truly inimitable and can be described in many beautiful words. At first, this remarkable painting perplexes its viewers, due to its superimposed images. However, upon analysis, it unfolds like a beautiful fantasy horizon.
Marc Chagall’s most famous painting, “I and the Village,” is an interesting description of nature and its importance to humans. Through different symbols and graphics, Chagall showed the give-and-take relationship of the human being with nature. He has represented the mutual interdependence of humans, peasants here, animals and plants with each other. In the foreground, a green-faced man, wearing a cap and holding a tree in his dark hands, can be seen staring at a goat, his cheeks depicting the image of a smaller goat being milked. The background shows a woman violinist and two houses on top, placed upside down, since Chagall did not give importance to the logical sequence. There is a series of houses, next to an Orthodox church. In front of the violinist woman is shown a man dressed in black with a scythe in his hand.
Marc has also used a variety of large and small circular shapes to show the sun’s revolution in orbit, the earth’s revolution around the sun, and the moon’s revolution around the earth. Marc Chagall’s most famous painting, “I and the Village,” depicts an eclipse in which the moon is in the lower left. The noticeable tree in the middle of the painting, balance it to impart symmetry. The geometric structures such as lines, angles, triangles, circles and squares used in “I and the Village” are inspired by ‘Cubism’, the art of avant-garde urban society. Chagall’s paintings covered a particular geometric frame. Similarly, “Yo y el Pueblo” is a scene from a particular area of the town, covered by a particular imaginary framework.
Considered a jewel in the world of creativity, “I and the Village” by Marc Chagall is highly valued. It currently adorns the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Integrating Eastern European popular culture, both Russian and Yiddish, this masterpiece is a clever star in the line of creative fantasy. Truly, Marc Chagall was a wonderful painter, who knew how to put all his emotions and qualities in the form of art.