Image: Hepworth Wakefield ; ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London
The exhibition will present Chagall’s circus lithographs alongside paintings and archival material, introducing his life and work while exploring his visual symbolism.
Throughout his career, Chagall returned to imagery of acrobats, clowns and fantastical performers. The exhibition frames these circus scenes through memories merged with nostalgia and loss, transforming the circus into a metaphor for the complexities, joys and sorrows of human experience; recurring images including the goat and lovers are associated with a lost life in his native Vitebsk.
It will also examine how Chagall’s personal background, experiences as an immigrant and lifelong embrace of theatricality shaped his circus imagery. By placing the circus lithographs in dialogue with related paintings and writings, the exhibition will consider Chagall’s creative process and poetic imagination.
