Vitebsk – Mark Chagall’s City by Bookletia

Alexander Slepov’s sculptural composition devoted to Marc Chagall is established near the Art centre.

Marc Chagall’s art centre.

In Marc Chagall’s Art centre

arc Chagall’s works are exhibited, and also modern art exhibitions are held. There are 300 sheets of original printing drawing of the Master (lithograph, xylographie, etchings, aquatints) in the museum. Among them a series of Chagall’s illustrations to N. V.Gogol’s poem «Dead souls» (1923–1925), two series of colour lithographs on the topic “Bible” (1956, 1960), a cycle of colour lithographs “12 knees of Israel” (1960) and other works. The part of works is presented in the exposition. Scientiﬁc conferences are carried out annually in the Art centre International Chagall’s readings, where you can see researchers of biography and creativity of the artist from different countries of the world.

Silvi Forestie, the honourable director of Marc Chagall’s museum “Bible Message“ in Nice speks on Chagall’s readings.

At the exhibition. A.Slepov’s composition.

here is a former palace of the governor – a monument of architecture and history of XIX–XX-th centuries near Chagall's Art centre. Palace of the governor. The card The Vitebsk province of the begginning of ХХ century. was founded in 1802, and from that time the governor's palace was closely connected with many historical events and names of famous people who visited Vitebsk. Marc Chagall was a commissioner on affairs of arts, and he often was here. In July, 1812 emperor Napoleon was living in the palace for two weeks. In 1912, to a war centenary, on means of voluntary donations of citizens a monument – 26 metre granite obelisk – was established. “To immortal valour of heroes of Patriotic war, participants of battles near Vitebsk 13, 14,15th July, and October, 26th, 1812”, – say lines of the dedication placed in it. There is a monument devoted to Ivan Ivanovich Sollertinskij (1902–1944), a native of Vitebsk, famous musicologist, professor of Leningrad conservatory and art director of Leningrad philharmonic society near the building of the musical college. The college itself is named after Sollertinskij.

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ere the main streets are covered by white paint on red bricks. And green circles are on the white background. Orange squares. It is Vitebsk of 1920. Its brick walls have The former National art school. been touched by Kazimir Malevich's brush”, said Sergei Eisenstein arrived in Vitebsk and amazed at everything in this city. In those days design experiments of Vitebsk were a task of pupils and teachers of Vitebsk National art school created by Marc Chagall. As teachers Chagall invited to the school the best artists which arrived from Moscow and Petrograd Mstislava Dobuzhinsky, Ivan Puni, Kseniya Boguslavskaya, El Lisitskij, Vera Ermolaeva, Kazimir Malevich. For more than a year Chagall himself was not only a teacher, but also the director of the school. It was his idea to create Museum of Modern Art under the school. Within the precincts of educational institution under auspices of Kazimir Malevich the creative association “UNOVIS” (“Developers of new art”), developing ideas of suprematism was created. UNOVIS became a part of history of world art avantgarde.

The monument to heroes of 1812. The card of the begginning of ХХ century. The monument to heroes of 1812 today. The monument devoted to I.I.Sollertinskij.

K.Malevich. A cow and a violin. 1913. Till 192_ the picture was in Vitebsk in the Museum of Modern Art under the art school. Nowadays in meeting of the State Russian museum (St. Petersburg).

El Lisitskij's poster “Beat the whites with the red wedge“. UNOVIS. 1920.

The fragment of Art centre’s exposition.

Text: Lyudmila Hmelnitskaya Site of Marc Chagall's museum: www.chagall.vitebsk.by visit our web-site www.belarustourism.by

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Vitebsk – Mark Chagall’s City

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he geography of the places connected with the name of artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985), is extensive France and Switzerland, Germany and England, the USA and Israel. Painting “Grand Opera” plafond in Paris, stained-glass windows in churches of Mainz, Zurich and Tiudli, in a synagogue in Jerusalem, mosaic panels for National library in Chicago, thousands of cloths and graphic works being now in different countries on different continents … For his life in length of almost the whole century Chagall became a real “citizen of the world”. His creativity is close and clear to people of different nationalities and religions. However there was one city in life of the great artist, memory about which he carried by through all his life Vitebsk, nowadays known to the whole world due to Marc Chagall. His childhood and youth was in this city, when he became a mature artist he left Vitebsk forever. «Long ago, my favorite city, I didn’t see you, didn’t hear, didn’t talk to your clouds and didn’t lean on your fences. As a sad wanderer I have only born all years your breath in my pictures. And so I talked to you and, as in a dream, I saw you … I didn’t live with you, but there was no my picture which wouldn’t breathe in your spirit and reﬂection … I kissed you by all paints and strokes and don’t say now that you don’t recognize yourself». Marc Chagall. From the letter “To my city Vitebsk”, 1944.

Vitebsk – Mark Chagall’s City

ears of Marc Chagall’s childhood and youth passed on suburb of Vitebsk, in Pokrovskaya street. “Here, in Pokrovskaya street, I was born once again”, the artist admitted, looking back at his past. “There are churches, fences, benches, synagogues, plain and eternal buildings, as on Dzhotto’s frescos here. (…) The beggar is in a hurry to reach home, the rich man is pacing sedately. The boy is running from heder. And my father is going home”.

Marc Chagall. “My life”.

Vitebsk panorama. S.M.Prokudin-Gorskij’s colour photo. 1912. Vitebsk. The Dormition Cathedral. The painted card of the end of XIX century Vitebsk. Rope street. A card of the boundary of XIX–XX centuries.

Vitebsk melody on the French violin.

Marc Chagall’s memorial House museum in Pokrovskaya street was opened in 1997 in the house. Subjects of life of the boundary of XIX–XX centuries, copies of archival documents and artist’s works, telling about years of life in Vitebsk are presented in the museum.

The sculpture “Vitebsk melody on the French violin” is established in the House museum garden. The author Valerij Moguchij. There is a monument devoted to Marc Chagall of sculptor Alexander Gvozdikov in the beginning of Pokrovskaya street. Every year in birthday of the artist on 7th July there is a holiday in Pokrovskaya street, in which musicians, actors, circus performers take part in.

n the bridge through the Zapadnaya Dvina Mark and Bell arranged dates. The bridge was constructed simultaneously with laying railway through the city to connect the centre with the station. The bridge was beauty and pride of townspeople, local photographers uncountable quantity of times ﬁxed it on photographic plates and then duplicated in cards.

Station in Vitebsk. A card of the boundary of XIX – XX centuries.

n 1906 Chagall left Vitebsk for the capital of the empire St.-Petersburg City to study painting. His way to the big art began with the Vitebsk station. The first steam locomotive with three carriages reached Vitebsk platform in October, 1866. The first railroad line connected the city with Dinaburg (nowadays Daugavpils in Latvia). In the meantime the station building was also constructed. Covered viaducts convenient for passengers were brought to platforms from the side of ways. A new railroad line connected Vitebsk with Petersburg was opened in 1904. In the meantime Tsarskoselskij station of the capital the first one in the Russian empire was renamed in Vitebsk station. “I was sure that our city is an extreme point of the world; because at Vitebsk station all trains arrive to one platform, and from the second side they go into the opposite direction. Our river Dvina also flows to us, and then its current turns. Even the sun rises in the sky with one side and sets in the opposite side of horizon. But what our Vitebsk is: the beginning or the end of the world”?

Nikolaj Chelnokov’s circus (Moscow) us on stage. Marc Chagall’s house museum. The exposition fragment.

“The bridge for us is paradise. We escaped from small houses with low ceilings to look at the sky … And there is the river under the bridge. The air clarifies between the sky and water. The wind brings flower aroma. (…) You walk on streets at an easy pace. And on the bridge you fly headlong. Water and wind help you. The cool rises through a wooden flooring. And you do not want to come down to earth, to paved small streets”. Bella Chagall. “Burning fires”

The bridge through the Dvina. Cards of beginning of ХХ century.

Chagall’s granddaughter Meret Meier-Graber and poet David Simanovich lay ﬂowers on the monument.

n 1900 Marc Chagall entered Vitebsk city four-class school with craft classes. Nowadays there is also an educational institution – an evening school – in this building. «Do I need to have all these lessons? Hundred, two hundred, three hundred pages of textbooks, I would like to tear them into pieces and blow sky-high. Words of Russian and all overseas languages can rustle! Leave me alone! (…) Most of all I loved geometry. There was no equal to me in this study. Right angles, triangles, squares – wonderful, exorbitant world. And speaking about drawing I can tell that in this sphere I was a king». Marc Chagall. “My life”.

After leaving school Chagall entered Judah Pan’s painting and drawing school – the only art school in Vitebsk in those days. Pan was a graduate of St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and he was able to foster love for art in his pupils. Among his pupils were such known artists as the El Lisitskij, Oscar Meshchaninov, Osip Tsadkin, Solomon Judovin, Polina Hentova, etc. Today Pan’s works can be seen in the Art museum. The memorial board established on the house № 28 Lenina street is devoted to the artist.

Bella Chagall. “Burning ﬁres” Flowers at the monument devoted to Chagall.

Railway lines with viaducts. A card of the of boundary XIX–XX centuries The station today. The building was constructed in 1950s.

The Art museum.

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I.Pan. A self-portrait. 1922. The former city school.