Marc Chagall Facts & Worksheets

Marc Chagall was a highly influential European artist during the contemporary era. Even now, his art is often exhibited in numerous countries and attracts significant audiences. Chagall’s work is characterized by polyphony, combining the formal aspects of multiple modernist movements with cultural depictions and a fascination with the fantastical and the macabre.

See the fact file below for more information about Marc Chagall, or you can download our 25-page Marc Chagall worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE AND WORKS

• Marc Chagall was born on July 7, 1887, in a Hasidic village near Vitebsk, on the northeastern border of the Russian Empire, in what is currently known as Belarus. His parents bestowed upon him the name Moishe (Hebrew for Moses) Shagal; however, the orthography acquired French elegance during his residence in Paris.
• In his 1921 autobiography, My Life, he asserted that he was “stillborn.” In an attempt to resurrect his motionless corpse, the grief-stricken relatives punctured him with needles and immersed him in a container of water.
• Simultaneously, a conflagration erupted, prompting them to expeditiously relocate the mother and her mattress to a different locality. 
• In addition to the disorder, it is possible that Chagall’s year of birth was inaccurately documented. Chagall asserted that his birth year was 1889, contradicting the acknowledged year 1887.
• Regardless of their integrity, the events surrounding Chagall’s birth became a recurring motif in his paintings. The composition included a combination of depictions of mothers and infants, inverted houses, falling farm animals, musicians playing the fiddle, acrobats, affectionate couples, blazing fires, and religious symbols.
• Chagall commenced his professional artistic education at 19 by enrolling in a private art school only for Jewish students. During this time, he temporarily studied under the guidance of Yehuda Pen, a portrait artist. Nevertheless, after a few months, he departed from the school and relocated to St. Petersburg in 1907 to pursue his studies at the Imperial Society for the Protection of Fine Arts.
• In the subsequent year, he enrolled at the Svanseva School, where he pursued studies under the tutelage of Léon Bakst, a renowned set designer whose artistic contributions had been showcased in Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. 
• This initial experience would ultimately be significant to Chagall’s subsequent professional trajectory.
• Despite the official teaching and the prevalent popularity of realism in Russia during that period, Chagall was already forging his distinctive style, characterized by a more surreal and fantastical quality, incorporating elements that held personal significance to him, such as people, places, and imagery that were very meaningful.
• Chagall’s instructors acquainted him with the vibrant hues of Matisse and the Fauves. In addition to his studies of Rembrandt and other Old Masters, Chagall also delved into the works of post-impressionists such as Vincent Willem van Gogh, a  Dutch Post-Impressionist painter, and Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin, a French painter.
• Furthermore, during his time in St. Petersburg, Chagall encountered the artistic category that would ultimately become a prominent aspect of his professional life: the creation of theatrical sets and costumes.
• Maxim Binaver, a member of the Russian parliament and art patron, admired Chagall’s early artistic endeavors. In 1911, Binaver provided financial assistance to the young man to journey to Paris, a city where Jews had greater opportunities for independence.
• Despite feeling homesick and having limited proficiency in French, Chagall remained resolute in his determination to broaden his horizons.
• He embraced the French orthography of his name and established himself in La Ruche, a renowned artistic enclave near Montparnasse.
• While attending the innovative Academie La Palette, Chagall encountered avant-garde poets such as Apollinaire and modernist artists like Amedeo Clemente Modigliani, an Italian painter, and Robert Delaunay, who co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colors and geometric shapes.
• Delaunay had a tremendous impact on Chagall’s artistic growth. Chagall’s career was marked by the creation of very memorable paintings, achieved via the combination of Cubist techniques with personal iconography. Below were some of Chagall’s work during this period:
• Within a short period of living in Paris, Chagall had garnered sufficient recognition from art critics to organize a solo show in Berlin, which took place in June 1914. 
• After his time in Berlin, he returned to Russia to be with the woman who eventually became his wife and source of inspiration.

LOVE AND MARRIAGE

• Bella Rosenfeld was a woman of exceptional beauty and intelligence, the daughter of a prominent local jeweler.
• Bella and Marc first saw each other in 1909, when she was just 14 years old. She was too young for a committed romantic partnership, and Chagall lacked financial resources. Chagall and Bella became betrothed but postponed their wedding until 1915. Their daughter, Ida, was born in the subsequent year.
• Bella consistently represented vibrant emotion, buoyant love, and feminine purity for almost three decades.
• In the art The Birthday (1915), a suitor hovers above an attractive young lady. As he performs a somersault to kiss her, she, too, appears to elevate from the earth.
• In addition to The Birthday, Bella was also the subject of Chagall’s paintings Over the Town (1913), Bella with White Collar (1917), Lovers in the Lilacs (1930), The Three Candles (1938), and The Bridal Pair with the Eiffel Tower (1939).
• Bella was not just a model; she had many other roles and qualities. She had a strong passion for theater and collaborated with Chagall on creating costume designs.
• She facilitated the progression of his career by managing business transactions and translating his memoirs. She documented Chagall’s artistic endeavors and their shared experiences in her own written works.

CHAGALL DURING THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

• Following their wedding, Chagall and Bella aspired to establish themselves in Paris. However, the occurrence of a succession of wars rendered their trip plans unfeasible.
• The advent of World War I resulted in widespread impoverishment, bread uprisings, scarcity of fuel, and the obstruction of transportation networks such as roads and trains.
• Russia had intense and violent revolutions, climaxing with the October Revolution of 1917, which led to a civil war between insurgent forces and the Bolshevik government.
• Chagall embraced Russia’s new rule due to its provision of granting Jews complete citizenship rights. The Bolsheviks held a high regard for Chagall’s artistic abilities and assigned him the role of Commissar for Art in Vitebsk.
• He established the Vitebsk Art Academy and orchestrated celebrations commemorating the centennial of the October Revolution, and created stage designs for the New State Jewish Theater. The Winter Palace in Leningrad housed a collection of his paintings that occupied an entire room.The country was afflicted by widespread famine. Chagall served as an instructor in a community of children who lost their parents in battle, created ornamental panels for the State Jewish Chamber Theater, and ultimately, in 1923, departed for Europe accompanied by Bella and their six-year-old daughter, Ida. 
• Chagall commenced his artwork La Révolution (1937-1968) two decades later, portraying the tumultuous events in Russia as a circus spectacle. Lenin performs a humorous handstand on a table while disorderly throngs tumble around the edges. To the left, the masses brandish firearms and crimson banners. To the right, musicians perform under a radiant aura of golden illumination. A newlywed pair appears to be floating in the lower corner. Chagall suggests that love and music will endure despite the harshness of war.
• The ideas explored in La Révolution are mirrored in Chagall’s triptych composition, Resistance, Resurrection, Liberation (1943).

CHAGALL IN AMERICA

• The commencement of World War II occurred in 1939. Chagall had acquired French citizenship and desired to remain in the country. Now an adult, Ida implored her parents to depart the country expeditiously. The Emergency Rescue Committee began preparations. Chagall and Bella emigrated to the United States in 1941. 
• Chagall became aware of the Jewish extermination camps in Europe in 1943. In addition, he was informed that soldiers had ravaged his childhood house in Vitebsk. In 1944, he experienced profound loss when Bella passed away due to an infection that could have been managed if not for the scarcity of medical resources during wartime.

CHAGALL AFTER BELLA’S DEATH

• Following Bella’s demise, Ida was responsible for caring for her father and enlisted the assistance of an English woman born in Paris to oversee the household. Virginia Haggard McNeil, the attendant, was the well-educated offspring of a diplomat. Like Chagall’s struggle with loss, she faced challenges in her marriage. Their romantic relationship lasted for seven years.
• In 1946, Virginia gave birth to a boy named David McNeil and established their residence in the tranquil village of High Falls, New York.
• While Chagall was with Virginia, his artwork again exhibited vibrant colors and cheerful subjects.
• He enthusiastically embarked on numerous significant endeavors, including creating spectacular sets and costumes for Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird.
• The Firebird was a significant achievement in Chagall’s career. The costume and set designs he created were used in performances for twenty years. Elaborated versions continue to be utilized in the present day.
• Shortly after finishing The Firebird, Chagall returned to Europe with Virginia, their son, and Virginia’s daughter from a previous marriage. Chagall’s artwork was acclaimed at retrospective exhibitions in Paris, Amsterdam, London, and Zurich.
• Although Chagall received widespread recognition and praise, Virginia became progressively dissatisfied with her position as a wife and hostess. 1952, she departed with the children to embark on a photography career. When Virginia departed, Ida once again assisted. 
• Ida employed Valentina (Vava) Brodsky, a woman of Russian origin, to manage domestic matters. Chagall, who was 65 years old, and Vava, who was 40, married within a year. 
• Chagall created some of his most significant and expansive works while with Vava. In his sixties, Chagall achieved several notable feats, such as creating stained glass windows for Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Medical Center in 1960, painting the ceiling fresco for the Paris Opera House in 1963, and designing the Peace Window for the United Nations Headquarters in New York City in 1964.

DEATH AND LEGACY

• Chagall’s lifespan extended to 97 years. He passed away on March 28, 1985, while inside the elevator, taking him to his studio on the second level at Saint-Paul-De-Vence. The tomb located nearby offers a scenic view of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Throughout his extensive career spanning most of the 20th century, Chagall derived inspiration from various avant-garde art movements. However, he continued to be an artist who depicted situations that could be easily recognized but also incorporated surreal and symbolic elements from his Russian Jewish background.

Marc Chagall Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Marc Chagall across 25 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Marc Chagall. Chagall’s work is characterized by polyphony, combining the formal aspects of multiple modernist movements with cultural depictions and a fascination with the fantastical and the macabre.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

1. Marc Chagall Facts
2. Knowing Chagall
3. Word Search
4. True or False
5. Interpretation
6. Painting Analysis
7. Elements
8. Forming Identity
9. Dream with Chagall
10. A Short Story
11. A Factor?

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Marc Chagall?

Marc Chagall was a prominent Russian-French artist known for his unique blend of Cubism, Fauvism, and Symbolism in his paintings. Born in 1887 in Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire), he later moved to France and became one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century.

What are some key themes in Marc Chagall’s artwork?

Chagall’s artwork often depicted dreamlike scenes infused with elements of folklore, mythology, and Jewish culture. His paintings frequently featured flying figures, animals, and vibrant colors, reflecting his personal experiences and memories.

What artistic techniques did Marc Chagall use?

Chagall was known for his mastery of color and composition, employing techniques such as bold brushstrokes, lyrical lines, and imaginative use of space. He often combined different artistic styles, creating visually striking and emotionally evocative pieces.

What are some famous works by Marc Chagall?

Some of Chagall’s most renowned works include “I and the Village” (1911), “The Fiddler” (1912), “The Birthday” (1915), and “The Bride with the Fan” (1912). Additionally, his stained glass windows adorn numerous buildings around the world, including the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

What was Marc Chagall’s legacy?

Marc Chagall’s legacy extends far beyond his artwork. He played a significant role in the development of modern art, influencing generations of artists with his imaginative style and unique vision. His contributions to the art world continue to be celebrated through exhibitions, publications, and admiration from art enthusiasts worldwide.

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