The Vitebsk Museum of Marc Chagall became one of the main award winners of the republican professional skills competition

More than 100 projects were presented to the international jury, headed by Zelfira Tregulova, General Director of the Russian State Tretyakov Gallery. Winners were determined in five nominations. The Marc Chagall Museum received a first-degree diploma for the best publication, namely for the collection catalog "Marc Chagall. Prints: 1922 – 1985".

According to Museum Director Irina Voronova, the catalog includes all 300 original graphic works that are in the Vitebsk collection.

– Such a publication is the pinnacle of scientific activity. Every museum strives to catalog its collections. This is a very meticulous work, but it enhances the image of a cultural institution. Only a few museums in Belarus have complete collection catalogs, – notes Irina Voronova.

For many years, researchers have been describing all of Marc Chagall's graphic sheets, comparing them with known catalogs. As Irina Voronova explains, fortunately, all of the artist's works were systematized during his lifetime, which significantly facilitated the identification and authentication of the master's works, and allowed us to determine how many copies were published and where they are stored. Next to each reproduction in the catalog, its dimensions and technique are also indicated. All annotations are provided in Russian and English.

– The publication has 5 sections, with works donated to the museum by Marc Chagall's daughter Ida, which are the most valuable in our collection, highlighted separately. Then come the illustrations for "Dead Souls," which are accompanied by relevant texts from Gogol's poem. The following sections are illustrations for the Bible, and book graphics from different years. Color lithographs on biblical subjects are given with the reverses, which are very rarely exhibited, and these are valuable author's sketches. Each part of the catalog is explained by art historical articles that bring the reader closer to understanding the works and the time in which they were created. Among the authors are well-known researchers of the artist's work, Natalia Apchinskaya, Alexandra Shatskikh, as well as the former director of the Marc Chagall Museum, Lyudmila

Khmelnytskaya, who is also the main compiler of the catalog, and our senior researcher Yulia Stepanets, chief custodian of the collections Irina Logunova, and others, – says Irina Voronova.

It is especially pleasant that the photographer of "Vitebskiye Vesti" Anton Stepanishchev is also involved in this publication. He photographed all of Marc Chagall's works for the catalog, and specialists noted the very accurate reproduction of the original colors in the reproductions.

The publication was released with the financial support of Rubicon LLC with the permission of the Chagall Committee. The catalog was printed by one of the most prestigious publishing houses, Vita-Nova, in St. Petersburg, and is itself a work of art.

Another Vitebsk publication has been noted by experts from different countries. For the catalog "Yu. M. Pen", which includes all 223 works by the master located in Belarus, the regional museum of local history received a second-degree diploma.

Tatyana Pasternak. Photo by Anton Stepanishchev. Vitebskiye Vesti.