|
Translated from the French by Dorothy Williams
Marc Chagall’s strange autobiographical essay on his
early life has established itself as a unique document in
twentieth-century literature.
Completed by the artist in 1922, this memoir was not available
in English until Peter Owen published this translation in
1965, and it has remained in print ever since.
Lyrical and evocative, it is a key work in Chagall studies
for the light it throws on the shaping of the artist’s
creative genius. His deep roots in Jewish tradition – religious and secular – are reflected in these recollections
of his poverty-stricken youth from Witebsk, White Russia,
to the Paris art world.
Contains fifty illustrations by the author
‘Anyone who likes Chagall’s paintings will enjoy
this book: the work of an unteachable, unspoiled folk artist.’ – Evening
Standard
‘Full of enjoyments.’ – Guardian
‘Chagall writes as whimsically as he paints; lovingly
of other people, humourously and lovingly of himself.’ – Daily
Mail
MARC CHAGALL was born in Witebsk in 1887. He studied art in St Petersburg and went to Paris in 1910. He spent the years from 1914 to 1922 in Russia, becoming Commissar of Arts in Witebsk after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. In 1923 he resettled in Paris, but following the collapse of France in 1941 he moved to New York. Chagall returned to France in 1948 and remained there until his death in 1985. |
