While in Nice, France I took the opportunity to visit the Marc Chagall Museum.
Marc Chagall created each piece in this room for this museum specifically. The grand, open space in the main room, is a perfect setting for the very large paintings. There is enough space for each piece to breath, a chance for your eyes to rest between them, and still more room for visitors to take in the full impression of each piece at a comfortable distance. Here the bright colors blend beautifully.
I chose to visit the Marc Chagall Museum as the strong, beautiful tropical blues of the paintings and the intense blues of the stained glass works pulled at my curiosity. I spent my life unimpressed by the color blue. It is lovely in the sky on a sunny day, it’s nice in the look of a pair of jeans, but beyond this I have never, ever liked the color blue!
Several years ago I moved to Hawai’i and really got the opportunity to live with the color blue in a whole new context. I was surrounded by tropical ocean waters, the islands’ constant companion whose shades of blues are infinite. It is this immersion with the Pacific Ocean environment that woke my senses to possibilities of blue.
My favorite painting in the museum is his Adam and Eve Expelled from Paradise. The colors are so striking to me, the big bold strokes and then the concentration of the flowers in the human form.
I liked seeing the bold strokes of color, yet just a small bit of color in just the right places had a great wonderful impact, such as an entire bouquet of flowers!
Further along in the museum is a well placed settee creating a lovely, comfortable setting in which to enjoy his mosaic work. He designed this work for this space, to be viewed as such, and the colors to reflect in the pool before it. The actual mosaic work was done by a mosaic expert, Lino Melano. When I was young I always thought an artist created all of their own work, but the more I study art from the oldest to the most contemporary works, so very many artists had assistants or other experts create the final works.
After reading the description that goes with the mosaic, I turned to find the reason I enjoy traveling, the reason I visit so many places…because I find the most amazing things in the most unexpected places!
Clement Cogitore’s videos Les Indes Galantes is a gorgeous mashup of Krump, a modern dance style originating in LA, and a classical opera scene from l’Opera Bastille a Paris by Jean-Philippe Rameau, 1735. Enjoy the short, passionate performance!
Love this beautiful stained glass piece in the theater at the Marc Chagall museum. Currently playing was a documentary about the artist so I didn’t get a chance to look closer at this and a few other immense stained glass works within the space.
I had always thought each line of black was indicative of a new piece. Also, I had thought each bit of color was yet another new piece of glass. Upon closer inspection I discovered it has all been painted! It’s really own a few pieces of glass, maybe all the same color or maybe only a few colors that has more blues, blacks, and other colors painted over it.
Getting There: It was a beautiful day so I could easily enjoy the 20-25 minute walk from The Promenade up the Marc Chagall Museum. I did need to hurry back when I was done and the bus stop just down the block was very convenient.
The small grounds of the museum was also a relaxing environment to take a break before moving onto the next art adventure.
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