L'exposition et la galerie-atelier sont terminés
The Philharmonie de Paris exhibition Marc Chagall: The Triumph of Music explores the artist’s creations for the stage, the décors and architectural works he was commissioned to produce, all somehow tied to music. The show brings together some three hundred artworks (paintings, drawings, costumes, sculptures and ceramics), with multimedia installations featuring the ceiling of the Paris Opera thanks to extraordinary technology developed by Google Lab, and photographs (for the most part previously unpublished), including those of Marc Chagall’s studio taken by Izis in the 1960s.
The panels Chagall painted for the Jewish Theatre in Moscow in 1920, conserved at the Tretyakov Gallery, form a universal décor, encompassing the different arts (Music, Dance, Theatre and Literature) in a “total” approach to art, while celebrating Yiddish culture and language through the amalgam of vernacular theatre, music, rhythm, sound and colour. Later, when Chagall fled Europe for the United States, his discovery of the spaciousness and monumental scale of American architecture and landscapes inspired a new direction in the artist’s works for the stage. He created the scenery and costumes for the ballets Aleko in Mexico in 1942 and The Firebird in New York in 1945, rekindling his connection to Russian music. Chagall eventually returned to France, where the Paris Opera commissioned similar work for Daphnis et Chloé in 1958 (1959 for the Paris Opera premiere). His collaboration with the Paris Opera culminated in 1962 when the presiding Minister of Cultural Affairs André Malraux commissioned Chagall to paint the ceiling of the Palais Garnier Opera House. Inaugurated in 1964, this celebrated work – and the artist’s personal musical pantheon – is a stunning tribute to the composers who have marked the history of music. The many previously unreleased sketches for this project retrace the genesis of the creation step by step, and the various stages in the artist’s creative process. In all of Chagall’s work, music is manifested in a remarkable range of resonances which make our time with his art an enchanting experience.
Scientific curator: Ambre Gauthier
Music director: Mikhaïl Rudy
Marc Chagall: The Sources of Music
24 October 2015 to 31 January 2016
La Piscine Museum of Art and Industry André Diligent (Roubaix)
Information: roubaix-lapiscine.com
Votre billet d'entrée à l'exposition de la Philharmonie de Paris vous donne droit à une réduction sur celui de l'exposition de La Piscine. En savoir plus sur la page Billetterie.This exhibition at La Piscine Museum in Roubaix was conceived as the third part of the museum’s unique homage to Chagall, which began in 2007 (on ceramics) and presented a second part in 2013 (on volume). Entitled The Sources of Music, the exhibition examines the origins and role of music in the inspiration and construction of Marc Chagall’s work. This compilation of over two hundred artworks – paintings, drawings, etchings, ceramics, stained glass, etc. – borrowed from major public and private collections from both France and abroad illustrates the importance of music at every stage in the evolution of Chagall’s polymorphous work. Moreover, it shows how this musicality is reflected not only in the themes the artist chose for his works, but in the visual language he invented.
This exhibition is presented at La Piscine Museum as part of the RENAISSANCE project with lille3000, support from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region and funding from CIC Nord Ouest and IRCEM.
Curators: Sylvie Forestier (+), honorary director of the National Museum Marc Chagall in Nice, and Bruno Gaudichon, head curator at the Museum of Art and Industry in Roubaix, with the invaluable assistance of Ambre Gauthier, Meret Meyer and Mikhaïl Rudy.
