Chagall: Between war and peace

If you visit Paris this spring, try to see the Chagall exposition at the Musée du Luxembourg.

Marc Chagall had a long and prolific career, living to be almost 100 years old. We see constantly recurring symbols in his work: images of his natal town of Vitebsk in what is now Belarus, images of his wife Bella, Biblical characters, vivid representations of his dreams, and political statements on the horrors of war and religious persecution. He has been called the "quintessential Jewish artist of the 20th century." His drawing is sometimes considered naive - his compositions full of people and animals floating in mid-air, but he is an undeniable master of color.

Each time I see an exposition of his work I find myself humming music from the Fiddler on the Roof which was inspired by his paintings.

You can take a virtual visit of the exposition here:

Au dessus de Vitebsk - 1922

La danse - 1950-1952

Sunday in Paris

We've been blessed with sunny weather for Cindy's visit to Paris. Today's walk took us to a new Chagall exhibit at the Musee d'art et d'histoire du Judaisme in the Marais. The exhibit featured several works borrowed from the Chagall museum in Nice which I visited last April.


Afterwards we crossed the Seine and went back to the left bank where we visited the Institut du Monde Arabe - a spectacular example of modern architecture. The south facade is made up of panels which include geometric motifs. The motifs are actually 240 motor-controlled apertures, which open and close every hour. Here's a closeup.


Oh, and there's a great view from the roof of the building.

Ballet

On my way home from my oyster lunch, I happened to notice that the Ballet de l'Opéra was featuring an "Hommage à Jerome Robbins" for Friday evening. I had no plans for Friday evening so I inquired about tickets. The performance was almost completely sold out, but they had a few remaining tickets with "limited visibility". The ticket was really cheap - only 10 Euros - compared to the 87 Euros that I paid for the last ballet that I went to!

When I arrived, I discovered that I would be sitting in a "Baignoire" on the main floor. "Baignoire" means "bathtub" in French! Here's what it looked like:


This is the view that I had from my seat in the baignoire:

I could only see the left side of the stage, so I had to wait for the dancers to come in and out of my line of sight. I didn't mind too much though; I had a great view of the orchestra.

Here's what the interior of the Opera looks like:


And here's the domed ceiling which was painted by Chagall:


Here's where you can go to have your glass of champagne during the Entr'acte (intermission):


Finally, this is the outside of the Opera building as we were leaving:


p.s. Someone asked me how it felt to be alone in Paris. Last night I realized that I felt your presence, dear Reader, as I recorded these sights and sounds. I imagined the funny things that we would be saying to each other as we watched and listened together . . .

Chagall, Matisse

I am enjoying my extended visit to the Côte d'Azur. Yesterday I took the train to Nice to visit a couple of museums that I had heard about. I went first to the Chagall museum. Chagall lived in Nice for many years and the museum here houses a wonderful collection of his paintings, sculptures, and stained glass windows. Here is a small sample:






Afterwards, I went to the Matisse museum which is just up the hill about a mile away. You can also see Roman ruins in Nice, and this photo shows the outside of the Matisse museum in the background with the ruins in the foreground.


I'm sure you'll recognize some of the more famous of Matisse's work such as this one: