From Booklist
Art lovers might think they know Chagall's work inside out, but a fresh look at this utterly original painter makes readers realize that perceptions of Chagall's achievements have narrowed and calcified over the years. In the first substantial monograph on Chagall in two decades, French museum director Foray awakens new appreciation for the aesthetic consequences of the artist's "fundamental ambivalance." A Russian Jew who depicted his hometown, Vitebsk, and rural Jewish life with great affection, he also evoked the aura of the country in which he lived in exile, France, and often painted Christian themes. Chagall was amphibian, too, in his approach to modernism, adopting a cubist style without abandoning his proclivity for old-fashioned allegory. Inspired by his fascination with the theater and the circus, Chagall suspended his acrobatic figures between earth and heaven, a reflection of his own quest for freedom from conformity, be it aesthetic, religious, national, or social. As this gorgeous volume's wealth of colorplates attests, every one of Chagall's surprising images and mystical juxtapositions is laden with meaning and spirit. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
Marc Chagall is one of the 20th century's favorite artists, known and admired for his rich palette, his inventive approach, his accessible subjects, and the deep traditions behind his work. Combining fantasy, spirituality, and nostalgia with a distinctive modern painting style, Chagall's canvases are infused with a joyous, dreamlike simplicity. Even as styles shifted from Cubism to Suprematism to Surrealism, his work remained individual and idiosyncratic-sometimes harming his art world reputation, but never his popular appeal. Marc Chagall is the first full-scale survey of the artist's work in almost 20 years. The lush color reproductions include some 60 paintings and 80 works on paper. An introductory essay by Jean-Michel Foray contextualizes the Russian-born artist's work, while a heavily illustrated chronology of Chagall's life-put together by his granddaughter and Jakov Bruk-details the many stages of his career. The work is organized into four sections, each with an introduction by Foray, to help make sense of his prodigious oeuvre. The beautifully designed volume accompanies a major retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

About the Author
Jean-Michel Foray is director of the Musées Nationaux des Alpes-Maritimes, which include the Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall in Nice. Meret Meyer Graber, Chagall's granddaughter, writes on and organizes exhibitions of the artist's work. Jakov Bruk is a research curator at the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Marc Chagall is one of the twentieth century's favorite artists, known and admired for his rich palette, his inventive approach, his accessible subjects, and the rich traditions behind his work. Combining fantasy, spirituality, and nostalgia with a distinctive modern painting style, Chagall's canvases are infused with a joyous, dreamlike simplicity. Even as styles shifted from Cubism to Suprematism to Surrealism, his work remained individual and idiosyncratic -- sometimes harming his art world reputation, but never his popular appeal. Lavishly illustrated with more than one hundred and fifty color reproductions, Marc Chagall is the first full-scale survey of the artist's work in nearly twenty years. An introductory essay by exhibition curator Jean-Michel Foray contextualizes the Russian-born artist's work, while a heavily illustrated chronology of Chagall's life assembled by Meret Meyer Graber and Jakov Bruk details the many stages of his career. The work is organized into four sections, each with an introduction by Foray, to help make sense of the artist's prodigious oeuvre. This catalogue is published on the occasion of a major retrospective conceived by Reunion des Musees Nationaux, Paris, with the Musee National Message Biblique Marc Chagall, Nice, and co-organized with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

SYNOPSIS