Chagall A&I (Art and Ideas) [Paperback]

Monica Bohm-Duchen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 1998

One of the best-loved artists of the 20th century, Marc Chagall (1887-1985) is paradoxically one of the least understood. He did much to encourage an image of himself as an entirely intuitive genius, but although his work seems naive in style and iconography, he was in fact a complex and sophisticated individual. In this comprehensive and analytical book Monica Bohm-Duchen places the artist firmly in his social, religious and cultural context, examining his prodigious output not only in painting but also in book illustration, theatre design, stained glass and poetry. She follows Chagall from his Russian-Jewish childhood, through his encounter with the Parisian avant-garde in the years prior to World War I and his activities in revolutionary Russia, to his later years in the South of France, where he died at the age of ninety-seven. The first survey of Chagall's work to take full advantage of new material available to the West since Glasnost, the book encourages a critical reappraisal of all phases of the artist's long career.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Phaidon continues its "Art & Ideas" series with these two explorations of major artists. Both books firmly anchor the art in the life-context and experiences of the artist, thus allowing the reader to chart clearly his thematic and stylistic development. Belkin (an editor of The Letters of Peter Paul Rubens, Northwestern Univ., 1991) sets the stage for a discussion of Rubens by explaining the political and religious divisions in the Netherlands and by examining his early family life. She traces Rubens's visit to Italy, where he immersed himself in the works of Titian, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Correggio, and then follows him to Antwerp, where he was both a full-fledged painter and a diplomat in good stead with the major courts of Europe. She does a marvelous job of tracking the progression of Rubens's artistic, allegorical, and iconographic content. The author also posits Rubens as a disillusioned diplomat who saw and portrayed women as peace-bearers in an age of turmoil. Bohm-Duchen (Understanding Modern Art, EDC Pubs., 1991) uses the flow of information since glasnost to flesh out the social, religious, and cultural context of Chagall's development as an artist. Although he preferred to be known as an intuitive "tabula rasa," Chagall's Russian-Jewish upbringing; his travels to Paris, Berlin, Palestine, and the United States; and his witness to two world wars greatly affected his work. The historical background Bohm-Duchen gives here can lead toward a better understanding of Chagall's art, but her Chagall is not as fully revealed as Belkin's Rubens. His persona still floats, unmoored, like the Green Violinist against the stark white background of the book's front cover. Based on their price and scope, both books are recommended for public and academic libraries.ANadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (July 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714831603
• ISBN-13: 978-0714831602
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,821,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually, I would say four stars and a half!, July 13, 2000

By 

Peter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chagall A&I (Art and Ideas) (Paperback)

This book is surprising. It doesn't quite have the format of a traditionnal art book, but it is an excellent book. I own many books on Chagall and this one was truly a great surprise! I would compare it with the book "Chagall: The art of dreams" by Daniel Marchesseau because both are like mini-encyclopeadias about the artist. The difference is that this one by Monica Bohm-Duchen is bigger, and I would say easier to read ( each page of Marchesseau's book is literaly loaded with information and pictures! ). The quality of the illustrations is superb, and the information on Chagall's life is never boring and hard to understand for people like me who doesn't really have big knowledge on art. Beautiful book.