Marc Chagall
French, born Russia, 1887 - 1985Composition with Bouquet, n.d.
On view
Gouache on paper
Dimensions15 1/4 × 15 1/2 in.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William L. Richards through the Viola E. Bray Charitable Trust Fund, 1962.4
Born in 1887, Marc Chagall was the oldest of nine children. Known for imaginative subjects that combine elements of Jewish and Russian folklore with personal experience, he often recalled childhood memories of growing up in the Jewish quarter of Vitebsk, Russia in his art. He used bright, rich colors and rhythmic, curvilinear forms to record his hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations. His compositions often lack shadows and deep space and have sparse use of perspective and modeling. The presence of floating figures lends a very dreamlike quality to this image, nicely exhibiting Chagall’s interest in portraying the inner working of the imagination.
