Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was a Russian-French artist best known for his contributions to modern art. Painter Pablo Picasso said,
"It was not in technique alone that I sought the meaning of art then. It was as if the gods had stood before me.. I had the impression that we are still only roaming on the surface of matter, that we are afraid to plunge into chaos, to shatter and overthrow beneath our feet the familiar surface." (Quoted in Letters of the Great Artists by Richard Friedenthal)
"The stars were my best friends. The air was full of legends and phantoms, full of mythical and fairy tale creatures, which suddenly flew away over the roof, so that one was at one with the firmament." (Quoted in Chagall's Early Work in the Soviet Union by Alexander Kamensky)
"The dignity of the artist lies in their duty of keeping awake the sense of wonder in the world. In this long vigil he often has to vary his methods of stimulation; but in this long vigil he is also himself striving against a continual tendency to sleep." (AZQuotes.com)
"In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love." (AZQuotes.com)
"When Henri Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is... Some of the last thing's he's done in Venice convince me that there's never been anybody since Renoir who has the feeling for light that Chagall has." (Quoted in Marc Chagall - A Biography by Sidney Alexander)The rest of this post is some quotes from Chagall.
Wonder
"It was not in technique alone that I sought the meaning of art then. It was as if the gods had stood before me.. I had the impression that we are still only roaming on the surface of matter, that we are afraid to plunge into chaos, to shatter and overthrow beneath our feet the familiar surface." (Quoted in Letters of the Great Artists by Richard Friedenthal)
"The stars were my best friends. The air was full of legends and phantoms, full of mythical and fairy tale creatures, which suddenly flew away over the roof, so that one was at one with the firmament." (Quoted in Chagall's Early Work in the Soviet Union by Alexander Kamensky)
"The dignity of the artist lies in their duty of keeping awake the sense of wonder in the world. In this long vigil he often has to vary his methods of stimulation; but in this long vigil he is also himself striving against a continual tendency to sleep." (AZQuotes.com)
"In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love." (AZQuotes.com)
