In 1973, the artist Marc Chagall made an emotional return to Russian soil. He was 85 years old and hadn’t seen the country of his birth for more than half a century.
“I feel. more muscular now,” he said shortly after the trip was over. “It did me good. It refreshed me for my work.” The remarkable thing, however, is that despite his advanced age, Chagall never needed much refreshing. He continued working till his dying day, aged 97.
It was in his later years that his use of intense colour notably advanced. There were two obvious catalysts (催化剂) for this. One was Chagall’s move in 1949 from Paris to the Cote d’Azur, where the colorful landscape, with its green seas and purple fields, left their mark. The other one was Chagall’s work designing stained-glass windows (彩色玻璃). Chagall’s efforts in stained glass undoubtedly contributed to his oil-painting practice. The pure passages of yellow, green, orange, purple and white that divide the canvas (画布) of L’ervol du peintre into three are a fine example.
Dallmayr suggests in his book Marc Chagall: The Artist as Peacemaker (2020) that after living through two world wars, as well as the horror of the Holocaust, Chagall developed an “artistic vision of peace”. His work was characterised by a sense of harmony and happiness.
As one of the world’s greatest artists, he was never short of speaking invitations, and in a lecture in 1959 he said that “love should be the basis of true politics—it could bring about real peace”.
It’s important to stress that Chagall was an artist, not a politician—but the speeches from his latter years do shed a certain light on his work from that time.
He never stopped innovating, whether in painting or in his embrace and command of new media entirely. All the while, his art was marked by its warmth, wit and—perhaps especially in later life—the aim of giving peace a chance.
4. How did Marc Chagall feel about the trip to Russia?
A.Excited. | B.Relieved. | C.Exhausted. | D.Bored. |
5. Why is Marc Chagall’s painting
L’envol du peintre mentioned?
A.To show his extraordinary understanding of intense colors |
B.To display his application of different colors in the oil painting |
C.To demonstrate the impact of designing stained glass on his oil painting |
D.To illustrate the exceptional division of the canvas in oil painting practice |
6. According to the passage, what words can best describe Marc Chagall?
A.Creative and peace-loving. | B.Passionate and emotional. |
C.Considerate and hardworking. | D.Friendly and imaginative. |
7. According to the passage, which of the following influences the style of his works?
A.His advanced age. | B.His political view. |
C.His marriage life. | D.His school education. |