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Showing posts from December, 2008

Marc Chagall, Painter of Symbols

I was recently shopping calendars at Barns & Noble when I came across a Marc Chagall edition. I fell in love with his symbolism, which I have been researching the past few days. His frequently repeated subject matter was drawn from Jewish life and folklore; he was particularly fond of flower and animal symbols Use of symbolism I gleaned from the web, in most cases I've tried to add my own thoughts. I'm not an art historian so my thoughts are just my thoughts. Personally the notion that the horses in Chagall's paintings only represent freedom seems absurd. Horses were work animals, they plowed fields and pulled carriages and wagons. Nearly every painting with a horse it seems to portray strength, support, commitment and loyality. In one painting the horse is painted directly on the crotch of the male subject... duh, looks like sexual prouness to me. Cow : Substainer of life. Another notion is that Chagall is striving to unite the bestial and the rational, the spontan