Chagall: A Retrospective

Baal-Teshuva, Jacob; Marc Chagall; Bella Chagall, Alexandre Benois, E. Teriade, Bernard Berenson, Aleksandr Kanmensky, Emily Genauer, Louis Aragon, Andre Breton, And Other Contributors

ISBN 10: 0883634953 / ISBN 13: 9780883634950

Published by Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1995

About this Item

374 Pp. Large Format Hard Cover, Blue Cloth, Gilt, Yellow Endpapers. First Printing. Fine In Fine Dust Jacket Priced $75.

Seller Inventory # 053774

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Chagall: A Retrospective
• Publisher: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0883634953
• ISBN 13: 9780883634950
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Despite a life buffeted by war and revolution, by exile and official condemnation in Russia, Marc Chagall preserved in his work a sense of peace and beauty. This comprehensive and incisive exploration of one of the greatest and most beloved artists of this century brings together the writings of art critics, the reminiscences of family, friends, and colleagues, and Chagall's own words to create a striking portrait of an artist who delighted the world with his unique brand of creativity.
Chagall: A Retrospective traces the artist's personal and artistic development from his humble beginnings in the Russian town of Vitebsk to his continuing contributions to world art at the time of his death at the age of ninety-seven.

Reviews

Calling Marc Chagall the greatest image-maker of this century, Andre Malraux, in one of the selections in this gorgeously illustrated anthology, probes the Russian-born artist's ``inner dialogue with himself.'' French art critic Alain Jouffroy explores ``the omnipotence of the Chagallian dream'' mingling ``love, reality, society, poetry, revolution, the circus'' into a seamless universe where fantasy, reality and illusion coexist. Baal-Teshuva, a critic, curator and friend of Chagall from 1951 until the artist's death in 1985, splices Chagall's letters, reminiscences and lectures and excerpts from his autobiography, My Life; essays by critics John Russell, Emily Genauer, Katharine Kuh; reminiscences by poets Osip Mandelstam, Andre Breton, Louis Aragon, Guillaume Apollinaire, Edouard Roditi; and recollections by friends and family including Chagall's first wife, Bella Rosenfeld, and Virginia Haggard McNeil, his companion for seven years, with whom he had a son, David McNeil. The result is a unique, multifaceted portrait of Chagall's love affair with life, art and the world.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

In spite of its subtitle, this handsome, oversized book is not an exhibition catalog, but rather one of a series of "retrospectives" produced by the publisher-which includes studies on Monet, Matisse, and Gauguin. The volume anthologizes previously published writings by critics, colleagues, family, and the artists themselves. Chronicles of Chagall's personal and artistic development are supplemented with a bibliographical index (but no true bibliography) and ample, albeit murky, illustrations. Editor Baal-Teshuva, a critic, curator, and friend of Chagall's, provides in his introduction a framework for the book, which is organized thematically, geographically, and by the diverse media of Chagall's prodigious output. Franz Meyer's more exhaustive and scholarly monograph Marc Chagall (LJ 5/15/64. o.p.) and Susan Compton's Chagall (LJ 6/1/85. o.p.) which includes a bibliography and better quality reproductions, are recommended over this latest tome as single sources on the artist. For its amassing of writings from a wide variety of sources, however, this book would still be a valuable acquisition for any art library needing multiple sources.
Heidi Martin Winston, NYPL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.