For my visit to the St. Louis Art Museum, I chose to view one of my favorite paintings that I have been admiring for years. Currently on view in Gallery 215, hangs the oil on canvas by Marc Chagall titled Temptation (The piece is also known as Adam and Eve). This painting is significant to the Surrealist movement, Jewish Artists, and to the popularity of Marc Chagall. Once you understand some of the details of the history of this work and its creator, that might not sound like such a grand assumption to claim. At first, you are struck by a percussion of color when you see the work. Then, the twisted shapes that are molded together reveal that you are observing a scene with two main figures. The eye travels up on the canvas and you realize that
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Warm red, golden yellow, lush green, and deep blue work together in a surreal way. It is thought that Surrealism was a term invented to describe Chagall’s work by the poet Apollinaire. Chagall had created a similar painting just previous to this one with the same subject matter named, Hommage à Apollinaire, or Adam et Ève (study). The poet’s very words used for Chagall’s work, “supernatural” and “surreal”, were later used to name the Surrealism Movement. Before coming to Paris, Chagall was taught by the set and costume designer, Leon Bakst. The use of bold oranges, pinks, and aquamarines for the plays that were set to Stravinsky released Chagall free from his domineering classical training. His counter lessons in chromatic harmonies, simplified form and liberated brushwork are evident here. Bakst’s teachings influenced Chagall’s entire career. It seems almost obligatory that Chagall would have a goat and other animals in this painting. He reveled in sharing glimpses of his impoverished, Jewish childhood in Russia. The goat, a favorite character of his, along with the bird and deer are symbolic of memories of his
Warm red, golden yellow, lush green, and deep blue work together in a surreal way. It is thought that Surrealism was a term invented to describe Chagall’s work by the poet Apollinaire. Chagall had created a similar painting just previous to this one with the same subject matter named, Hommage à Apollinaire, or Adam et Ève (study). The poet’s very words used for Chagall’s work, “supernatural” and “surreal”, were later used to name the Surrealism Movement. Before coming to Paris, Chagall was taught by the set and costume designer, Leon Bakst. The use of bold oranges, pinks, and aquamarines for the plays that were set to Stravinsky released Chagall free from his domineering classical training. His counter lessons in chromatic harmonies, simplified form and liberated brushwork are evident here. Bakst’s teachings influenced Chagall’s entire career. It seems almost obligatory that Chagall would have a goat and other animals in this painting. He reveled in sharing glimpses of his impoverished, Jewish childhood in Russia. The goat, a favorite character of his, along with the bird and deer are symbolic of memories of his