Art Knowledge News
Marc Chagall Exhibit Pulled from Troubled Metropolitan Museum in Fresno, CA |
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| Written by The Fresno Bee |
| Wednesday, 23 December 2009 01:44 |
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The Met recently underwent a three-year, $28 million renovation that it had to borrow $15 million to complete. It has lost benefactors because of the bad economy. The exhibition was based on two popular literary documents: Les Ames mortes (The Dead Souls) by 19th-century Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol, and Selected Fables, by 18th-century French author Jean de La Fontaine. Chagall's familiar, cartoonish whimsy is in full view here as he retells these tales in his own unique fashion. This exhibition focused on the early etchings of the 1920s, when Chagall had moved to Paris to seek artistic freedom from the perils of post-Revolution Russian life. Chagall produced more than 200 etchings for the Parisian art dealer and publisher Ambrose Vollard, beginning with a commission to illustrate Dead Souls, the masterpiece of 19th-century Russian literature by Nikolai Gogol. From 1923 to 1925, Chagall created 107 etchings to illustrate this powerful tale of Russian village life. In the novel, Gogol creates and Chagall would illustrate vignettes describing gossipy women, grotesque misers, venal officials, a drunken coachman and others. Hardly had Chagall completed the work for Dead Souls when Vollard commissioned a second series of etchings, for the Fables of la Fontaine. April 4, 1984 marked the beginning of 21 years of museum space that would serve Fresno well, if imperfectly. The date featured a ribbon cutting ceremony and dedications. First through the door were the children of Fresno, symbolic of the Museum's continuing role to serve the community of the curious. Visit : http://www.fresnomet.org/ Some information from: The Fresno Bee, http://www.fresnobee.com Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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