La Tendresse du Chagall

Marc Chagal is one of my favorite painters. His work is so touching, so optimistic, even in the face of war and oppression. He was a participant in the Russian Revolution in 1917. He moved to Paris and became established as an artist, then had to flee from the occupation. Marc Chagall lived to be 97 years old. I saw an entire ceiling by Marc Chagall, in the opera in Paris. The whole interior of the opera house in Paris is red velvet and dark wood. It's voluptuous and steeped in hundreds of years of wonderful evenings. Lifting your eyes from the elegant seats and overhead boxes you see Marc Chagall's light blue, dancing cieling of people and symbols. They're swirling about the chandeliers in a celestial contrast to the rich theater. It's marvelous.
His work inspires me because it portrays an intense love of life, despite the darkness inherent in it. His tenderness in rendering people and the animals they live with, their hopes and inspirations flying above their heads, themselves soaring above the town, makes me happy. Knowing this person, who lived a hundred years ago in times of great hardship feels this kindness makes me personally feel better about everything.