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March winds always
make me think of floating figures in Marc Chagall’s paintings. I often wonder if they
are floating because of their lack of gravity or if they are angels, clothed in
ordinary garments, unable to walk on this earth.
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I look at Chagall’s paintings again and now, I think that his elevated and hovering figures are dislocated people who do not want to be rooted in the earth, the place where they are staying, the here and the now.
Sometimes one is unbelievably
moved by the grace and lyricism of his line, the strange shapes, the spaces
between them, and the unexpected designs may stir one’s critical faculty. For
me, the finest inspiration of Chagall comes from his lavish use of purple.
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Purple is the colour that is associated with repentance in Christian religion, and it is the colour of Lent in the liturgical calendar. Throughout March, the priests would wear purple coloured vestments as a sign of penitence, humility and fasting.
During
Lent before Easter, the altarpieces, statutes and crucifixes are covered with
purple veils and coverlets. This custom of veiling is apparently to make us
imagine the temporal (life on earth which is dim and clouded) and the eternal
(heaven which is bright and glorious).
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At this time of the year, the countryside is also adorned with the shades of purple, violet and lilac. Nature prefers to do her veiling and unveiling with no hint of pressure or force. Instead, she does it spontaneously with mists, fogs and frosts, filling the blank windows with decorative arabesques and adding a note of interest to a not particularly inspiring spot.
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Well, I learned lots of new things there - especially about the colour purple (and lilac). Here in Wales it has been a wet, drenching, March. As for Chagall, I am never quite sure - they can be beautiful and yet I can't quite over the folksy art style. Like so many painting, they are much better to see in 'real life' rather than prints or books - scale and texture matter!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment. I can see why you are not too keen on Chagall. I used to feel the same about his work until I have seen his works in real life. So, I agree wholeheartedly with what you said about looking at the paintings in real life.
DeleteHe was an incredibly versatile artist. It is not only the large scale of his work that dazzles me but also the lavish use of paint and pure colours which give the inner vitality in his work that we often don’t see in the reproduction. Especially, his religious paintings are very poignant, melancholy and introspective and he emerged as an artist and explorer of the human spirit in these works. It reminds me of another English artist, Cecil Collins’ works. But the latter’s works are more intimate and more in line with the visionary tradition of Blake, Palmer, etc.