Marc Chagall, who died on 28 March 1985 at the age of 97, was the last great re-presentative of the Ecole de Paris. He reached out to people like no other artistthis century, inspiring fascination and admiration across the world. Henry Millerdescribed him as a "poet with the wings of a painter". Throughout his life he pre-ferred the company of poets to that of painters, mistrusting theories of painting,:especially dogmatic ones. Thus he did not fall under the sway of either Cubism oiSurrealism, founded no school of his own, and had no followers or successors. Heremained the great one-off, whose work still defies all attempts at classification.

Introduction

"A poet with the wings of a painter."

Vitebsk 1887-i9o6

"This mysterious word 'artist'"

St. Petersburg 19o6-191o

"All my works of this first period are now lost."

Paris i91o-i914

"Paris, you are my second Vitebsk."

Russia i914-i9z2

"The most productive years of my whole career"

France i9z3-i94i

"France is my real home."

The United States 1941-1948

"I love America, I found there a feeling of youth."

Back in France 1948-1985

"I have always done without theory or method."

Graphic art, tapestries, mosaics

"Loving art is life itself."

Stained glass, sculptures, ceramics

"If I create from the heart, nearly everything works."

Epilogue

"My paintings are my memories."

Marc Chanell-Life and work