Chagall in Israel
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
September 10, 2002 - January 11, 2003
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem presents over 80 paintings and works on paper by Marc Chagall, drawn from the collections of the Israel Museum, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and private Israeli collections. Chagall in Israel represents a collaboration between the Israel Museum and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, in which the Israel Museum is lending approximately 50 works by Picasso from its collection to Tel Aviv, in exchange for the loan of 25 works by Chagall to Jerusalem. The exhibition highlights the trademark images that have made Chagall such an important figure in the history of modern art worldwide, with a particular emphasis on works inspired by his Jewish heritage and connection to Israel.
While Chagall absorbed influences from many of the major movements of the early twentieth century, his art remained distinctively his own - a fusion of images of mysticism and realism, fantasy and nature, religion and secular life. The exhibition explores the rich and broad range of subjects which Chagall treated in his work, including self-portraits; the Jew and the Torah; the Jewish village; lovers and flowers; musicians and performers; and artworks tied to Israel. The section devoted to Chagall and Israel features paintings created during his visits; works influenced by the landscape and light of Israel; studies for projects created for Jerusalem institutions; and rarely exhibited photographs and ephemera relating to Chagall and his visits to Israel - from Israeli postage stamps bearing his images to illustrated book inscriptions highlighting his relationship with Israel Museum Founder, Teddy Kollek.
James Snyder, director of the Israel Museum, remarks: "The exhibition demonstrates the strength of Israel's holdings in the work of this great 20th century master and his ties to Israel. It also highlights the collegiality between museums in Israel and the strength of the relationships between museums and private collections here. These are all valuable messages in Israel today."
Throughout his lifetime, Chagall acknowledged the importance of the State of Israel to the Jewish people, and he enjoyed friendships with Israeli artists, art historians, politicians, businessmen, and people from many walks of life. He made his first visit to Israel in 1931, prior to the founding of the State, on the occasion of a commission he received to complete a series of 100 illustrations of the Bible. His drawings, etchings, and lithographs illustrating the Bible and works he executed during his first visit to Israel, Interior of a Synagogue in Safed, 1931 and The Wailing Wall, 1931, are on view in this exhibition. After World War II, Chagall visited Israel seven more times. In 1951 he came for the openings of exhibitions of his works in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv and then again in 1957 following the publication of his Biblical illustrations. Chagall enjoyed close ties to the Israel Museum since its inception; Teddy Kollek gave him a personal tour of the construction of the nascent campus in 1963.
Chagall's imprint is most widely felt in Israel through the works commissioned for major institutions in Jerusalem, which are now national landmarks. In 1962, Chagall arrived in Israel for the inauguration of the twelve stained-glass windows for the synagogue of the Hebrew University's Hadassah Medical School Center in Jerusalem. He returned to Israel shortly thereafter to discuss and execute tapestries commissioned for the new Knesset building. Chagall also completed mosaics for the gallery wall and floor of the Knesset, all of which were his gift to the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Chagall made his last visit to Israel at the age of 90 in 1977, at which time he was honored by the City of Jerusalem and awarded an honorary doctorate by the Weizmann Institute. The Israel Museum honored him through a retrospective of his works held that year, which Chagall came to view with his wife Valentina.
Chagall in Israel is curated by Stephanie Rachum.
ISRAEL MUSEUM, JERUSALEM
