Paris exhibit looks at history according to Chagall

A new exhibit, “Chagall, between war and peace,” opened at Paris’ Musée de Luxembourg on Thursday in what is a comprehensive look at 20th century history through the works of celebrated artist Marc Chagall. Marc Chagall led a life that was as rich and colourful as much of his art. Born in 1887 in Vitebsk, a city formerly part of the Russian Empire, Chagall lived through a revolution, two world wars and a period of exile before dying in France at the age of 97. While his work has generally been associated with early modernism and a blend of avant-garde movements, a new exhibit at Paris’ Musée du Luxembourg portrays the artist as a historian whose oeuvre chronicles much of the 20th century. Titled “Chagall, between war and peace,” the exhibit opens with the outbreak of World War I and explores the artist’s eventful life until his death in 1985, bringing together around a hundred works from museums and private collections across France and abroad. Curated by the recently-deceased Jean-Michel Foray and his widow Julia Garimorth-Foray, the exhibit opens Thursday, February 21, and will run until July 21.