Description of the picture:
Above the city – Mark Zagarovich Chagall. 1914-1918. Canvas, oil. One hundred forty one x 197
Uniquely distant and so close, mysterious and completely understandable on a sensual level, Marc Chagall is the only one who was able to visually portray the grandiloquent expression “take off from happiness.”
Work on the painting “Above the City” began back in 1914, and the master applied the finishing touches only in 1918. During this time, Bella from her lover turned not only into a beloved wife, but also the mother of their daughter Ida, forever becoming the main muse of the painter. The union of the rich daughter of a hereditary jeweler and a simple Jewish youth, whose father earned his living by unloading herring, could not be called a mesalliance, but love was stronger and overcame all conventions. It was this love that inspired them, ascending to heaven.
Karina depicts two Chagall’s loves at once – Bella and dear to the heart of Vitebsk. The streets are presented in the form of houses, separated by a high dark fence. Not immediately, the viewer will notice a goat grazing to the left of the center of the picture, and a simple man with his pants down in the foreground – humor from the painter, escaping from the general context and romantic mood of the work, but this is the whole Chagall …
The image of people looks very curious – it’s all “cubized”, angular, consisting of even clear lines, but it, on the contrary, is expressed in completely soft outlines not without grace and softness. In addition, Bella is dressed smartly – a beautiful bright dress, neat shoes, however, the lace peeking out from under her skirt suggests that Chagall wanted to emphasize how homely she is, her own, only him.
Many critics note the turn of the hero’s head – he looks back at his native Vitebsk, as if trying for the last time to catch a glimpse of a familiar landscape. And indeed, the painter will very soon leave the country, and after that Europe in general, running away from the Nazi persecutors who aimed to exterminate the people of Bella and Mark.
The composition of the work is incredibly harmonious, and the lyrical mood allows you to get rid of questions – why is it that young people suddenly fly. The amazing power of talent allows the viewer to step over these conventions and just admire the picture.
It is said that even in his youth, a gypsy guessed Chagall, that in his life he would have three women, moreover, two of them would be ordinary, but here one was absolutely unusual. Chagall devoted his work to his unusual Bella, great love and main inspirer, like many others."