marc chagall

New Exhibit In Philadelphia Explores Chagall's Artistic Legacy

Filed under: Art

A new exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia explores the legacy of Marc Chagall and his artist compatriots. "Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle" runs from March 1 to July 10 and focuses on the work of Chagall and others in Paris in the early 1900s.

Chagall arrived in Paris in 1911 and was immersed in the artistic styles flowering in Paris at this time. He worked at La Ruche, a beehive-like building that was home to a variety of artists' studios. French sculptor Alfred Boucher opened the building in 1902 offering inexpensive space and free models for talented artists. It blossomed into a vibrant community for artists to exhibit work and share ideas. When Chagall joined La Ruche it already had many Eastern European artists who had also moved to Paris to discover firsthand the most recent trends in modern art. Other artists there in the 1910s included Archipenko, Kisling, Lipchitz, Soutine, and Zadkine, who were represented in the exhibition by two sculptures in cedar wood that have not been displayed at the Museum since 1963. Shown above is Chagall's "Paris Through The Window" which was painted in 1913. The exhibit seeks to capture the atmosphere of artistic excitement in Paris at this time and also explores a bit of history, looking back to at Chagall's return to Russia during World War I and the rise of the Russian Revolution and his second stay in Paris in the 1920s.

The museum website has a series of podcasts devoted to the exhibit which offer a comprehensive roadmap to all that is going on in a Chagall painting. For example, in the painting shown above, the artist's double-faced self-portrait in the lower right hand corner is a representation of the two sides of his spirit, looking back toward his homeland but also forward toward Paris, Cubism and a world of changing ideas and ideals.

Tags: chagall, marc chagall, museum exhibitions, museum exhibits, philadelphia museum of art

Chagall Windows Go Back On Display In Chicago

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

November 1 marks the return of Marc Chagall's America Windows to the Art Institute of Chicago. The popular exhibit underwent conservation and research treatment the past five years. The stained- glass windows commemorate the American Bicentennial and first debuted at the Art Institute in 1977. They also appeared in the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off.: The windows are now the centerpiece for a presentation of public art in the Rubloff Auditorium.

The Art Institute website tells the story of the windows. It began in the early 1970s, when Chagall came to the city as part of his work on the mosaic installed outside Chase Tower, The Four Seasons. He offered to create a set of stained-glass windows for the museum and worked on the six-panel work which celebrates the America as a place of cultural and religious freedom. He dedicated the work to Mayor Richard J. Daley. Admission to the institute is $18

[via Chicago Tribune]

Tags: Art Institute of Chicago, chagall, chagall windows, chicago, marc chagall, windows

Vacheron Constantin Métiers d'Art Limited Edition Watch For The Opéra National de Paris

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Vacheron Constantin has released a sneak preview of an upcoming limited edition watch with a dial that will replicate Marc Chagall's famous ceiling for the Paris Opera House (Opera National de Paris). Details are this point are quite scant, but this highly limited edition Vacheron Constantin Métiers d'Art watch will feature a beautifully hand done replica of the ceiling. Over the last several years Vacheron Constantin has been wowing its fans with Metiers d'Art collection watches that come out about once a year, and all utilize impressive artistic techniques.

The fact that the ceiling mural is round sure helps it fit into a watch dial. The design will even feature some of the sculpted decor around the periphery of the mural (that will be on the bezel of the watch). No details yet on the complications or materials used in the watches. Vacheron Constantine has been a sponsor of the Opera National de Paris since 2007. We will get more details about this upcoming high-luxury watch collection in November.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: limited edition, marc chagall, metiers dart, opera, paris, vacheron constantin, watch

$200,000 Offered For Stolen Artwork

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

If you've seen any of the nine missing paintings shown above you could earn yourself a $200,000 reward. These paintings were stolen during a home robbery in Encino, California at the end of August while the elderly owners were in a back room. The thief stole paintings including Marc Chagall's "Les Paysans," Diego Rivera's "Mexican Peasant," and Arshile Gorky's "Cubist Still Life," a total of at least a dozen artworks in less than one hour. The Los Angeles police have announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the paintings' return. But, as the L.A. Times reports, it is unknown where the money came from, only that it was not a government source.

Each painting is worth at least six figures with some worth over $1 million. If the thief doesn't know exactly what they have it may show up on the market soon at a pawn shop or other places but a more savvy thief might be willing to wait a while and then quietly slip it onto the market in another part of the country or overseas. The pieces have been registered in the Art Loss Register and in the FBI and Interpol stolen art files so anyone who does their homework should be able to know what they are getting. However, the networks to sell stolen art are elaborate and secretive and many pieces are not recovered. Often if a piece is not recovered quickly it can disappear for many years or even permanently.

Source

Tags: art, art theft, ArtTheft, diego rivera, DiegoRivera, encino, marc chagall, MarcChagall