Moscow exhibit probes Chagall’s Russian roots

MOSCOW - Agence France-Presse

The Origins of the Master’s Creative Language’ displays Chagall`s works. AFP Photo

Once banned as “bourgeois,” the work of painter Marc Chagall is enjoying a revival in the ex-Soviet Union with a new exhibition delving into the influence folk art and his Russian Jewish roots had on his work.

 “Visitors often ask, why Chagall’s animals are blue, yellow or pink, why the bride is flying over the rooftops and the man has two faces. They will now understand where Chagall drew (his images) from,” said curator Ekaterina Selezneva.

To emphasise the importance of these influences, the exhibition at Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery will feature a popular Russian engraving on wood, a carpet and icon as well as a Jewish spice-cake mould and seven-branched menorah chandelier until Sept. 30.