Chagall’s Angels
Angels were central figures in many paintings by Russian artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985). Born in a Jewish ghetto in Belarus, Chagall went to Saint Petersburg as a young man to study art. Since it was illegal for Jews to live in the capital, Chagall lived in constant fear. Then one night, he woke to the sound of rustling wings. When he opened his eyes, he felt as if many pins were piercing his forehead. A blue light flooded the room and an angel hovered above him. Slowly, the angel floated up through the ceiling followed by unforgettable blue light. From the n on- for almost eight decades- Chagall labored to share the beauty, peace, and color first brought to him by an angel.
“When I am finishing a picture, I hold some God-made object up to it- a rock, a flower, the branch of a tree, or my hand- as a final test. If the painting stands up beside a thing man cannot make, the painting is authentic.” Because of an angel, Marc Chagall understood that when our work reflects our Creator, it is authentic and beautiful. Apply this understanding to your own work today.”
Catherine Odell & Margaret Savitskas, Angels of the Lord- 365 Reflections on Our Heavenly Guardians (Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, IN 2016) 313
Bob Raczka, No One Saw- Ordinary Things Through the Eyes of An Artist (Millbrook, Minneapolis MN 2002)