Press releases

VITEBSK, 12 July (BelTA) – Presentation of two paintings by Marc Chagall brought from Pskov was one of the first important exhibition projects at the 25th Slavonic Bazaar in Vitebsk festival of arts. The exhibition was opened in the Vitebsk Art Museum on 12 July, BelTA has learned.

The museum was in talks with the Pskov State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve since 2009. Today Vitebsk residents and guests of the festival have a unique opportunity to see the two early works by Marc Chagall from the so-called Vitebsk cycle till 14 August. Art critics appreciate this cycle most of all, and the paintings of this period are the most expensive. This equally applies to the graphic works Black Lovers dating back to 1914-1915 and the famous scenic work (an unusual technique of oil on paper on cardboard) Bathing of a Baby written in 1916. Both are on display in Belarus for the first time.

The works, according to the Vitebsk Art Museum Director Olga Akunevich, are imbued with love, which was characteristic of the young Marc Chagall. Pskov Museum curator Maria Protsenko added that it is this feeling that makes Bathing of a Baby so valuable and beloved in the world. “Chagall depicted the domestic scene of him and Bella bathing their daughter Ida. The room and surroundings are depicted in cold colors, as if the world around is shaken. But the warmth and love of the people in the center hold the balance,” Maria Protsenko noted. She stressed that the picture often travels around the world and is seen rarely even in Pskov. At the same time Black Lovers, like any graphic work, “takes a rest” for half a year in the museum before a new exposure not to lose the beauty. So the black inked kiss of the artist and his muse was long hidden from eyes before it got to Vitebsk, the city where the artist was born.

These two works are exhibited together with the artist's family photos that made part of the book “Marc Chagall. Hello, Motherland!”.

On the same day the Vitebsk Art Museum hosted the openings of two exhibitions: Yehuda Pen’s and Ivan Khrutsky’s works. Ivan Khrutsky’s exhibition features 13 works from the National Art Museum, which were exhibited at the Louvre in 2010, and three works from the Vitebsk collection.