Chagall's art arrives in Brazil with a message of love and hope

Rio de Janeiro, 15 Mar Marc Chagall's fantastic world (1887-1985) invades Brazil this Wednesday with a selection of works full of love, dreams and hope, an exhibition that reflects how this artist chose to capture the joy of life, despite the adversities that accompanied him in his transfer. Chagall experienced the disasters of two world wars, had to leave the land where he was born, was a victim of Nazi persecution and prematurely lost the wife he loved so much. However, it was joy and optimism that he left in his work, a work where color and enthusiasm stand out. Part of this playful world can be seen in “Dream of Love”, an exhibition with more than 180 works — including paintings, watercolors, lithographs and engravings — which will open to the public this Wednesday at the Cultural Center of the Banco de Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro, and which will then follow Brasilia, Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo. A LIFE MARKED BY WAR Born in the small city of Vitebsk, in the then Russian Empire, Chagall had a peaceful childhood, but his life was marked by the wars and exiles he had to face, which eventually led him to settle in France, where he was nationalized at the age of 50. At a time when Eastern Europe is clothed in fear, blood and desolation after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Chagall's work takes on special significance as it is a kind of ode to hope amid the nightmare that this region of the planet is currently experiencing. “His life was not easy, but he always kept a message of hope and joy. For this reason, I believe that Chagall's message is valid in these times”, Spanish Lola Durán Úcar, curator of the exhibition, assured EFE. “In the moment we are going through, after the pandemic and with this situation of political instability and war, Chagall's art and especially Chagall's art can be a palliative to so much pain and so much injustice,” he added. The exhibition compiles 186 works created by the artist between 1922 and 1981, which belong to private collections abroad or that are part of collections of Brazilian museums. They include the themes that most concerned the artist, such as his childhood, the support of his religious beliefs, his love for literature and the special affection he felt for Paris, the city that welcomed him. However, color and life stand out in the works inspired by his wife Bella, who despite dying at the age of 40, was his beloved companion and who helped him overcome many of the obstacles he was forced to face. Although in Paris he witnessed avant-garde movements firsthand and his works show the influence of cubism, surrealism and fovism, Chagall never framed himself in any of them, because, as the expert explained, “his desire for freedom led him to create a unique and personal universe”. But perhaps it is Chagall's own words that summarize the meaning of his work. “In life, as in the artist's palette, there is only one color that gives meaning to life and art: the color of love”.