Le fou qui vend la sagesse (#91) from Jean De La Fontaine Fables, 1927-1930
Marc Chagall was born in 1887 in Witebsk, Belarus. Chagall's artistic oeuvre takes pleasure in telling stories in poetic images and beautiful colors, creating his own timeless and poetic world. Chagall's main source of inspiration was Russia's rich stock of folk art, Jewish mysticism and legends. He combines all this with dream visions. Certain motifs and metaphors are recurring, such as the lovers, flowers, the rooster and the Jewish schtetl. Chagall also worked in etchings and lithographs. His stained glass windows appeared in such cathedrals as Notre-Dame in Reims, France. He also painted a ceiling cupola at the Paris Opéra Garnier in 1963. The Museum of Modern Art showed the first retrospective of his work in 1946. He died in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, in 1985.