Chagall. A Cry of Freedom

Chagall. A Cry of Freedom

Throughout his life, which was marked by two wars and one exile, Marc Chagall created a body of work that is deeply rooted in the history of the 20th century. A figure of displacement and migration, the artist criss-crossed the world in the midst of the torments of the century, from his childhood in Russia from his childhood in Russia to France, Germany, the United States and Mexico, before settling in the Mediterranean. His art, imbued with a profound humanism, nourished by his Jewish roots and by listening to the cultures he has encountered and the experiences he has lived through, is the messenger of an unwavering commitment to human beings and their rights, to equality and tolerance between all beings.

Carried by a strong cry for freedom, his art confronts the eye with the wars he has fought and the artistic battles he has waged, transcended by poetic force and imagination, combined with the pictorial vocabulary of derision and humour rooted in Jewish culture. Pencil and brush become weapons of peace for the painter, reflecting the struggles of this "twentieth century forged in fire ¹ ", whose "words and [echoes] cling to the air and petrify, flesh bloodied on the sheets of snow ² ". Drawings and paintings thus reveal the unconditional idealism of the "painter who witnessed (his) times ³ ", his unshakeable faith in harmony and universal peace between man and man, creating crossed views and dialogues on history in the making.

Backed up by recent research on a wide range of previously unpublished documents from the artist's archives, the exhibition offers a chrono-biographical tour presented from the new angle of Chagall's political commitment, bringing together numerous masterpieces to be discovered thanks to remarkable French and international loans. An exceptional loan from the Philadelphia Museum in Nice, the painting Pourim (1916-1917) plays an important role in the exhibition: it was exhibited 
in Germany by the Nazis in 1937 as an example of degenerate art. Rabbi in Black and White or Jew at Prayer (1923), on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago, will be on display alongside Solitude (1933), from the collections of the Tel Aviv Museum 
of Art. The exhibition Chagall. A Cry of Freedom is also supported by the Indivisions Ida Chagall and Michel Brodsky. It is accompanied by a richly illustrated scientific catalogue, which summarises the most recent research and reproduces numerous masterpieces and previously unpublished archives.

This spectacular exhibition presents the artist's work in the light of the historical events he witnessed and took part in, providing the first comprehensive reading of his work from the perspective of his stance and commitment. A co-production with the MAPFRE Foundation in Madrid and the Marc Chagall National Museum in Nice, under the direction of curators Ambre Gauthier and Meret Meyer, Chagall politique, Le cri de liberté is supported by the Ida Chagall and Michel Brodsky Indivisions and numerous prestigious French and international loans.

The exhibition Chagall politique, Le cri de liberté is co-produced by the Musée national Marc Chagall, Nice, La Piscine - musée d'art et d'industrie André Diligent, Roubaix, and the Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid. The exhibition will run : 
- from 7 October 2023 to 7 January 2024: at La Piscine - musée d'art et d'industrie André Diligent, Roubaix
- 2 February to 5 May 2024: at the Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid (Spain)
- From 1 June to 16 September 2024, at the Musée national Marc Chagall in Nice. 

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated scientific catalogue that brings together the most recent research and reproduces numerous masterpieces and previously unpublished archives. Published in October 2023 by Gallimard, edited by Ambre Gauthier (312 pages, 283 illustrations, € 35).

Curated in Nice:
Anne Dopffer, general Curator of Heritage, Director of the National Museums of the 20th Century in the Alpes-Maritimes.
Grégory Couderc, scientific Head of Collections at the Musée national Marc Chagall, Nice

Scientific curators:
Ambre Gauthier, doctor of art history, responsible for the catalogue raisonné and the Marc Chagall Archives
Meret Meyer, co-president of the Marc Chagall Committee and granddaughter of the artist

Official website dedicated to the artist Marc Chagall: marcchagall.com
 

Note 1: Peretz Markish, Khaliastra (The Gang), Lachenal & Ritter, 1989, p. 11.
Note 2: Ibidem
Note 3: Les Peintres témoins de leur temps, Musée Galliera, Paris, 17 January - 17 March 1963.

Marc Chagall, The Red horse, 1967, oil on canvas, 119 x 212 cm. On loan from the Centre Pompidou - musée national d'Art moderne - Cci, to the musée national Marc Chagall, Nice. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais / Gérard Blot © ADAGP, Paris, 2024.
Marc Chagall, Man with upside-down head, 1919. Oil on cardboard mounted on wood. Indivision Ida Chagall/Michel Brodsky. Cover of the catalogue for the exhibition Chagall politique, Le cri de liberté, ed. Gallimard (2023) © ADAGP, Paris, 2024.