Art Review of "Crucifix with Clock" by Marc Chagall
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Formal Analysis
Crucifix with Clock is a lithograph done by Marc Chagall in the mid 20th century. It is approximately the size of a regular piece of computer paper, 8.5 by 11 inches. What grabs the viewer’s attention first is the clock case with the time piece as the head of a crucified person. Above the time piece is the inscription “Chagall” instead of the “INRI” which usually accompanies the Crucifix of Christ. To the right of the clock case is a blue herring, a type of fish that his father made a living off when Chagall was young. Lateral to the right border is an angel, painted predominately in white. Above the clock case is a purple bull which Chagall used as a symbol for prosperity in some of his works. The bull is holding some sort of lamp which is a symbol for enlightenment. Below the bull are what appears to be two different scenes that Chagall witnessed in his life; the seclusion of Jews in his native Russia and the Jewish genocide of Europe during World War Two. The two scenes which seem to flow into each other are divided by the use of color. Below the two scenes there is a rabbi reading the Torah. The effects of Cubism on Chagall who spent time in Paris can be clearly identified in this painting; there are plenty of geometric shapes found throughout. Examples are; the clock case is rectangular in nature, the herring is identical in shape to a trapezoid, the houses are in basic geometric form, the inscription “Chagall” is rectangular, and the Torah is just basically two squares next to each other. The color in this masterpiece is what makes it so. The light cool orange found throughout the piece is complementary to the darker purple, red, and black outlines. Chagall was a great artist, his use of color specifically in this piece and his other works prompted Picasso to state “When Matisse dies Chagall will be the only one left who understands what color really is.” This lithograph was also influenced by the artist’s exposure to Surrealism. Chagall’s subconscious or unconscious conjured up what could be labeled as surrealist symbols; the clock (like Dali’s clock), the bull (a Jewish symbol heavy with meaning), Torah, the lamp (enlightenment).
Cultural Interpretation
Marc Chagall was born Moshe Shagal in Liozno, Russia, July 7th 1887. He was one of 9 children. His father was a herring merchant. At the time Jews were not considered citizens of Russia and were for the most part confined to certain “Jewish areas” of living. If one was Jewish and wanted to live in a Russian city one had to get a permit from the government. For a time period Chagall lived in St. Petersburg illegally and was briefly jailed. He moved to Paris and spent a couple of years there, he absorbed the currents of the Paris scene; Cubism, Surrealism, Fauvism. He moved back to Russia and was an active participant in the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Soviet Ministry of Culture made him a Commissar of Art for the Vitebsk region, where he founded Vitebsk Museum of Modern Art. However, the Soviet machine didn’t appreciate his work for too long, he moved to Paris in 1923. When the Nazis blitzkrieged France and Paris fell, Chagall eventually made his way to the United States. I gave the reader the above information to better understand Crucifix with Clock. Crucifix with Clock was finished in the mid 20th century towards the end of his life. The lithograph is a recap of the artist’s life. In a short single life Chagall witnessed the brutality, inhumanness, and horrors of hate, ignorance, and genocide. The one “scene” in the artwork depicts the Russian segregation of Jews at the hands of Russian hate. The other scene depicts the horrors of the Holocaust. The herring is a symbol of Chagall’s early life. The clock-time enclosed crucifix is a representation of Chagall; his life and his understanding of it. Time as represented by the clock confined Chagall the Man to a finite amount of time on Earth, but Chagall the Spirit is timeless. The man is crucified and dead but the God within is resurrected and is eternal. He clearly demonstrated by putting his name on the inscription. The bull holding the lamp is in a sense Chagall as a product and representation of his Jewish roots. The bull, as a Jewish symbol, means fertility, creativeness. So a bull holding a lamp, a symbol for enlightenment, could be interoperated that Chagall found peace, knowledge, enlightenment, and God through his Religion in understanding himself and his time on Earth. He also had the ability to convey this understanding magnificently through his art. The rabbi holding the Torah and the angel to the right of the clock are reminders to Chagall and all that all finite time and all its inherent hardships whether great or small can and must be endured. Chagall as a human first and foremost understood this. Chagall as a Jew lived and experienced this (Russian segregation, Holocaust). Chagall as a spiritual artist (in the likes of Kandinsky) fleshed out his unique and historical biography so we, the audience, can hopefully learn from him and his life.
Conclusion
The formal analysis dealt with the technical aspects of this lithograph. The cultural interpretation is where the real gold is for the reader. Chagall was in tune with his own unique daemon(a spiritual intelligence, or a non-human intelligence). This artist and his artwork were molded not by mere mortals alone, but by a Higher Power.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Chagall
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimonic
http://cf.hum.uva.nl/narratology/grigorieva.htm
