Two paintings by Marc Chagall will be exhibited in Vitebsk for a month

One of the first important exhibition projects at the 25th "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" was the presentation of two paintings by Marc Chagall, brought from Pskov. The exhibition opening took place yesterday at the Vitebsk Art Museum.

Vitebsk museum staff had been striving for this event since 2009 – this is how long negotiations with the Pskov State United Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve lasted. As a result, citizens and guests of the festival capital have a unique opportunity until August 14 to see two early works from the so-called Vitebsk cycle – it is most valued by art historians, and paintings from this period are the most expensive. This applies to both the graphic work "Black Lovers," dated 1914-1915, and the famous painting (in an unusual technique – oil on paper on cardboard) "Bathing a Child," created in 1916. Both are in Belarus for the first time.

According to the museum director Olga Akunevich, the works are imbued with love, which is particularly characteristic of the young Marc Chagall. The keeper of the Pskov museum's collections, Maria Protsenko, added that it is this feeling that makes the painting "Bathing a Child" so valuable and beloved in the world. "Chagall depicted a domestic scene, how he and Bella bathe their daughter Ida. The room, the surroundings are depicted in cold tones, as if the world around is shaking. But the warmth and love of the people in the center maintain balance," explained Maria Protsenko. She emphasized that the painting travels the world so often that even in Pskov it is seen infrequently. At the same time, the work "Black Lovers," like any graphic work, "rests" in the collections for six months before a new stage of exhibition, so as not to lose its beauty. Thus, the kiss of the artist and his muse, captured in black ink, was hidden from human eyes for a long time, only to end up in Vitebsk, where it was born.

Photographs of the artist's family became the frame for the two paintings in the exhibition hall,

published in the publication "Marc Chagall. "Hello, Motherland!". On the same day, two more exhibitions opened at the art museum - works by Yudel Pen and Ivan Khrutsky. Moreover, for the latter, the National Art Museum offered 13 works from its collections, which were exhibited at the Louvre in 2010, supplemented by three works from the Vitebsk collection.

Ekaterina Knyazeva - BELTA.