VITEBSK ART SCHOOL (part 2)

Having learned the lessons of new European art and declaring himself to be a rapidly maturing master, M. Chagall returned to Vitebsk on the eve of the First World War. In fact, in less than a decade, from an unknown student of a provincial artist, he grows into one of the leading masters of the emerging avant-garde. And this is not surprising if you pay attention to how easily and organically he created his original art system, attracting childishly naive imagination and romantic metaphor, intrepidly departing from realism and ahead of the masters of Western Europe, whose evolution indicates the intense efforts made to free oneself from the tenacious embrace of the artistic tradition. Continue reading →