The Marc Chagall National Museum (Chagall Biblical Message) is a French national
museum
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
dedicated to the work of painter
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
– particularly his works inspired by religion – located in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million[Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...]
.
History
The museum was created during the lifetime of the artist, with the support of the Minister of Culture
André Malraux
Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...
, and inaugurated in 1973. It is also known as the "National Museum Marc Chagall Biblical Message" ("Musée national message biblique Marc Chagall") as it houses the series of seventeen paintings illustrating the biblical message, painted by Chagall and offered to the French State in 1966. This series illustrates the books of
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...
,
Exodus and the
Song of Songs
The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...
.
Chagall himself provided detailed instructions about the creation of the garden by Henri Fish, and decided the place of each of his works in the museum. The chronological order of the works was not followed.
Chagall created the mosaic which overlooks the pond and the blue stained glasses that decorate the concert hall; he also wanted an annual exhibition to be held on a topic related to the spiritual and religious history of the world.
As the collection has grown, what was a museum illustrating the theme Biblical message has become a monographic museum dedicated to Chagall's works of religious and spiritual inspiration. In 1972, the artist gave the museum all the preparatory sketches of the ''Message Biblique'' as well as
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
and sculptures, and in 1986, the museum acquired, in lieu of inheritance taxes, the complete drawings and
gouache
Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouach ...
s painted to depict the Exodus and ten other paintings, which includes the triptych named ''Résistance, Résurrection, Libération''. Other acquisitions complemented the museum's collections, which now has one of the largest collection of works by Marc Chagall.
Temporary exhibitions
*
Denis Castellas, June-October 2014.
*
Makiko Furuichi, January-April 2023.
See also
*
*
List of single-artist museums
This is a list of single-artist museum, single–artist museums, which are museums displaying the work, or bearing the name, of a single visual artist.
See also
* :Museums devoted to one artist
* List of art museums
* List of most visited art mu ...
*
Marc Chagall Museum
References
External links
Official Musée Marc Chagall website��
{{ACArt
Musee Marc Chagall
Art museums and galleries in France
Museums in Nice
Biographical museums in France
Museums devoted to one artist
National museums of France
Art museums and galleries established in 1973
Musee Marc Chagall