Marc Chagall doubtlessly counts among the most popular and most renowned artists of the last century. His lyrical visual universe, oscillating between Surrealism and a phantasmagorically transfigured Expressionism, have become icons of a collective pictorial memory.
The Russian native Marc Chagall, who had come to Paris when he was a young man, managed to establish a completely independent style by combining elements from Russian folk art with a glowing Fauvist coloring, refined with surreal symbols and motifs. The source of his topics was the world of Jewish mysticism, simple life in Russia and thew world of artists in the circus; love couples, flowers and animals are also recurring motifs. His oeuvre comprises paintings, a significant complex of graphic works as well as glass windows, mosaics, ceramics and sculptures.
Along with innumerable international solo shows, honors such as the Erasmus-Award (1960) or the Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (1977) are proof of the painter poet's worldwide fame.