Marc Chagall was the painter-poet of the 20th century, a visionary who turned dreams into art.
His world is one where lovers float through the sky, animals play the violin, and color pulses with emotion. He blended memory, folklore, and fantasy, creating scenes that feel both intimate and otherworldly.
A master of color and imagination, Chagall’s work radiates joy, wonder, and movement. And he wasn’t bound to canvas—his creativity spilled into sculpture, ceramics, mosaics, and stained glass, bringing his magical world to life in every medium.
Mini Biography of Chagall
Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Russia. He studied art in St. Petersburg.
In 1910, Chagall moved to Paris at 22. He quickly made a name for himself. There, he absorbed the influences of Cubism, Orphism, and Surrealism, weaving them into a distinctive style all his own that defies classification.
In 1914, he returned to his hometown of Vitebsk Russia, for what was meant to be a short visit to see his fiancee, Bella.
Unfortunately, World War I broke out and took him by surprise. He was unable to return to France. As a result, he was forced to stay in Russia for nearly a decade.
During this time, he married Bella, and she was undoubtedly the love of his life. Bella was not just his muse either. She was his emotional and intellectual partner, deeply influencing his work.
Their love is beautifully reflected in many of his paintings. Often, she appears floating, embracing him, or in dreamlike, romantic settings.
Chagall returned to Paris in 1923. During WWII, he decamped to New York City to avoid persecution.
Eventually, he returned to France, setting in the medieval gem of St-Paul-de-Vence on the French Riviera. He lived there for the rest of his life.
Iconic Chagall Paintings
I and the Village
📍 The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
This is one of Chagall’s most famous paintings. It’s a surreal, symbolic painting that blends Eastern European folklore and avant garde modernism.
It’s about the connection between man and nature. It’s filled with floating figures, animals, and dreamlike landscapes. They overlap each other in a continuous space.
The surface is crystalline, and mirror-like, with Cubist shapes. The colors appear hard and almost glassy.
To the right is a sliced off green face of a man, probably the painter himself. He stares fixedly at a white cow’s head. And offers a glittering nosegay almost as a love token.
At the top is a mini version of a Russian village.
The Birthday
📍 Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
The Birthday is a whimsical, romantic painting of Chagall and his wife Bella.
It’s a joyful, dreamlike painting filled with love and whimsy. It captures a personal moment between the artist and his fiancee, Bella Rosenfeld, just before their wedding.
In the scene, Bella stands holding a bouquet of flowers. Chagall, overcome with love, floats above her in an impossible pose, twisting midair to kiss her. His body bends unnaturally, as if love has lifted him beyond gravity.
The room is simple, with a bright red rug, a window, and a table with a patterned cloth. But the emotions make it magical. The painting feels weightless, as if love has turned the world upside down.
Chagall often painted floating figures to signify deep emotion and pure happiness. Love makes everything feel surreal. And in this painting, it literally takes flight.
White Crucifixion
📍 The Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Chagall’s faith was a significant factor in his life. As a Hassidic Jew, he faced discrimination from an early age due to the anti-semitic policies in Russia and Europe.
At the time, Germany was already invading neighboring countries during before WWII.
This painting was a direct response to the menace of the time. Chagall paints Christ’s image on the cross, reminding people that Christ was, in fact, Jewish.
It depicts a powerful and haunting depiction of Christ on the cross, infused with Jewish and Christian symbolism. Around Christ’s monochromatic zone of holiness are scenes of disaster.
Paris Through the Window
📍 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
This painting is a vibrant, Cubist-inspired vision of Paris. Painted in 1913, it captures his fascination with Paris and his love for fantasy.
The scene is filled with bold colors and playful shapes. A two faced figure stands in the foreground, looking both forward and back. This could reflect Chagall’s feelings of being caught between his past in Russia and his new life in France.
Through the window, the Eiffel Tower stretches into a bright, swirling sky. Buildings tilt at odd angles, creating a sense of movement.
A floating cat with a human face drifts across the scene. This mix of real and imaginary elements makes the painting feel magical.
Chagall’s use of color and perspective breaks the rules. The painting isn’t meant to be realistic. It’s meant to feel like Paris—exciting, full of energy, and a little surreal.
The Promenade
📍 State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg Russia
The Promenade is a happy painting of Chagall holding his wife Bella’s hand as she floats above the ground. It was painted when he was back in Vitebsk, after the Russian revolution.
Life felt better, more golden. Plus, he was madly in love with Bella.
He produced a large scale painting, which has an exultant, high-spirited tone.
The couple are walking over a curving vista of box-like houses. They intend to have a picnic, hence the wine. Then, all of a sudden, Bella takes off like a bird or leaps like a ballerina.
You can see the influences of Cubism, Futurism, and the Fauvist influence of Matisse.
The Fiddler
📍 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Netherlands
The Fiddler is colorful painting of a violinist playing atop rooftops. It’s a theme that later influenced the musical Fiddler on the Roof.
The painting is part of a series of pictures in which Chagall brought to life legendary characters from his village in Russia.
Fiddlers were a central part of festivities in the Jewish community. The fiddler showed up at important moments — births, weddings, and funerals.
Here, the fiddler is an enormous looming figure against a snowy nighttime landscape. A blossoming fairytale tree with birds serves as a poetic emblem. At the top floats a child with a halo in a light blue sky.
Over the Town
📍 State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow Russia
Over the Town is another of Chagall’s love-filled paintings, celebrating his deep bond with his wife. After returning to Russia, they married in 1915, and this painting captures the joy and weightlessness of their love.
The couple soars above their hometown as if caught in a dream. Chagall holds Bella close, guiding her through the sky, their bodies stretched in an almost impossible embrace.
Below them, the town’s rooftops tilt at playful angles, creating a sense of movement and whimsy. The world seems small beneath them, as if love has lifted them beyond everyday concerns.
The war and political turmoil of the time are absent from the scene, making it a pure, private world of affection, escape, and peace.
The Green Violinist
📍 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
This is a vibrant portrait of a violinist blending with the town’s rooftops, inspired by Jewish folk traditions and theatrical stage designs.
It’s a merry celebration of the tension between change and continuity, between the material and spiritual.
The violinist is rendered in Cubist forms and set against a bland backdrop of gray and brown. He’s either standing on two houses or floating above them like the man who appears to be flying at the top.
The violinist is in gaudy tones of green, red, and purple. He stands for nostalgic tradition, amidst the horrors of war and occupation.
Ceiling of the Paris Opera
📍 Opera Garnier, Paris France
In 1960, Chagall was commissioned to paint the ceiling at the Paris Opera. It was placed over Jules-Eugène Lenepveu’s classical painting, The Muses and the Hours of the Day and Night. And frankly, it’s a huge upgrade.
Legend has it that General de Gaulle and Culture Minister André Malraux were attending a performance featuring Chagall’s set and costume designs. As Malraux glanced up at the ceiling, unimpressed, he had a spur-of-the-moment idea. Why not let Chagall reimagine it?
Chagall created a masterpiece illustrating great opera performed at the theater. Its vivid colors and dreamlike figures form a striking contrast to the opera’s opulent Second Empire décor. Yet somehow, it all works—especially beneath Garnier’s massive, seven-ton bronze and crystal chandelier.
His bold, swirling colors were a radical departure from the opera house’s gilded grandeur, and not everyone was thrilled. Traditionalists found it garish. Others thought it clashed with Garnier’s vision.
The Fall of Icarus
📍 Centre Pompidou, Paris France
This is a late Chagall painting depicting the myth of Icarus. It’s a surreal take on the famous Greek myth.
But unlike traditional versions, Chagall’s Icarus isn’t just a cautionary tale about ambition. Instead, he fills the scene with movement, dreamlike colors, and symbolic figures.
With his outstretched arms, Icarus seems to be tumbling from the sky. His body twists, caught between flight and failure.
Below him, the world carries on. A violinist plays, a rooster crows, and animals drift through the scene. These details create a sense of both chaos and wonder, hope and tragedy, sorrow and displacement.
It’s not just about falling. It’s about what happens next.
Madonna of the Village
📍Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid Spain
Chagall painted Madonna of the Village while staying in Gordes France, seeking refuge from the Nazis during World War II. This period of exile profoundly influenced his work, heightening its sense of longing, displacement, and spiritual reflection.
In this dreamlike composition, Chagall depicts the Madonna cradling a child in her arms. She’s enveloped by a celestial scene of angels singing and playing music.
A flying cow with a violin hovers nearby, a whimsical yet deeply symbolic motif of his Jewish heritage.
Rendered on a monumental scale, the Madonna is dressed in a flowing bridal gown. This is intended to emphasize purity, protection, and divine presence.
She drifts through a mystical, otherworldly space, characteristic of Chagall’s unique visual language, where memory, faith, and folklore merge into a poetic dreamscape
I hope you’ve enjoyed my guide to famous paintings by Marc Chagall. You may enjoy these other art guides:
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