Born in Vitebsk, Russia 1887. After studying in St. Petersburg, a patron enabled Chagall to travel to Paris and Berlin, but on a visit home to Vitebsk he was caught in Russia by the First World War and the Revolution. After the Russian Revolution he was made the Commissar of Fine Art for his home town, but his fantasy-like style and interest in contemporary French techniques were frowned upon and he was replaced by Malevich. In his biography he wrote “Neither Imperial nor Soviet Russia need me. I am a mystery, a stranger to them”. In 1923 he returned to France and became central to the group of Jewish émigré artists in Paris including Modigliani. A highly individual artist, Chagall’s works are often fragmentary scenes, both childlike and intimate, often inspired by the bible.
Died St. Paul-de-Vence, France 1985.