Marc Chagall Lithographs On Display In Livermore

LIVERMORE, CA — Lithographs created by one of the most celebrated European artists of the 20th century are in Livermore for a limited time.

Twelve lithographs by modernist Russian-Jewish painter Marc Chagall will be on display at the UNCLE Credit Union Art Gallery at the Bankhead Theatre until May 19, and are free and open to the public. They will be displayed alongside works from contemporary artists from around the Bay Area.

The lithographs are inspired by Chagall’s “Jerusalem Windows”, original stained glass windows created in 1962 that adorn the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. Each of the 12 lithographs represents a different biblical tribe, and are rich in symbolism from the Old Testament, Jewish folklore, and personal memory. The windows debuted in the Louvre and then traveled to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, and President John F.Kennedy called them “extraordinary.”

Chagall was born in 1887 in a small town in modern-day Belarus. He traveled across Europe as a young man, where he created a unique modernist style inspired by Eastern European and Jewish folklore. He settled in Paris in 1923, escaped to New York during World War II, and returned to France in 1948, where he remained until he died in 1985.

He is perhaps best-known for his stained glass windows, which adorn not only the Hadassah Medical Center, but also cathedrals in Reims, Metz, Zurich, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the United Nations.

The exhibit “Illuminating Symbols in Art: From Chagall to Contemporary Symbolism” is free and open to ticketed patrons Thursdays through Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit livermorearts.org more information.