Chagall's Dreamlike Universe Explored in Mestre Exhibition

The Centro Culturale Candiani in Mestre presents a comprehensive exhibition on Marc Chagall, running through six sections that trace his poetic and symbolic language. The show begins with 'Il sogno simbolista,' inspired by Odilon Redon, and includes works by Cesare Laurenti and sculptor Adolfo Wildt. A key section pairs the painting 'Rabbino di Ca' Pesaro' with 'Vitebsk. Scena di villaggio,' highlighting Chagall's return to Russia in 1914, where he was stranded by World War I until 1922. During this period, he reconnected with his Jewish heritage, as seen in 'Ebreo in bianco e nero' (or 'Rabbino di Vitebsk'), depicting an elderly man in his father's prayer garments. The exhibition also covers the exile of artists fleeing Europe in the 1930s, juxtaposing Chagall's cubist-tinged 'Rabbino di Ca' Pesaro' with sculptures by Ossip Zadkine, and extends to Surrealism via Max Ernst. A section on love and color compares Chagall's palette to European Expressionism, particularly Emil Nolde's intense hues. The finale features Chagall's Bible series, commissioned by Ambroise Vollard, with engravings and original plates donated to the Musée National Chagall in Nice in 1972. Chagall's work, often seen as naive, is actually a sophisticated blend of Jewish tradition, Russian culture, Fauvism, and Gauguin's primitivism, rejecting the geometric rigidity of Matisse, Braque, and Picasso.