MONTREAL: Three Days in May, Day 3–Musee des Beaux-Arts, Marc Chagall

Marc Chagall, Self Portrait, Musee des Beaux Arts, Montreal

On my third and last day in Montreal I headed to the Musee des Beaux Arts (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), about thirty minutes from my hotel, on the other side of the city center. For part of the way I walked along Boulevard de Maisonnueve, past the tall buildings that are the business center of Montreal, many with fascinating installations of large public sculptures. I then cut over to Rue Sherbrooke, passing by the McGill University campus before arriving at the museum, actually a complex of buildings on both sides of the street.

Musee des Beaux-Arts, Main Entrance

The featured exhibition was Chagall: Colour and Music, a grand display of the life work of Marc Chagall with examples of his paintings, drawings, theater sets, costumes, stained glass, sculpture, ceramics, book illustrations and more. Room after room, filled with creations by this prolific artist, dazzled the eye, beginning with a movie about his early life in Russia and participation in the Yiddish Theater.

Theater backdrop

Music played throughout the exhibit, reinforcing the interconnectedness of sound, color, light and movement that infuses the work of Chagall. On the wall above his self portrait was this quote: “Everything you say is right. So guide my hand. Take the brush and, like the leader of an orchestra, carry me off to far an unknown realms.” Marc Chagall

Village scene

Themes from village life in rural Russia appear again and again in Chagall’s paintings, often with a figure playing a violin. In a display case in one of the rooms was a beautiful klesmer violin.

Costumes for The Firebird ballet, inspired by Hopi and Zuni Katsina dolls

Several rooms displayed mannekins with costumes Chagall had designed for plays and operas. My favorites were those he created for Stravinsky's Firebird ballet, inspired by the Katsina dolls of the American Southwest.

Stained glass--colors are created in layers

Another room displayed examples of Chagall's stained glass windows, documenting the process from idea to drawing to the finished glass.

Inuit sculpture, village scene--stone and whale bone

Because I had to catch a plane later that afternoon, the only permanent exhibit I was able to view was the display of Inuit Art, a small but fascinating collection of art by contemporary Canadian Native American artists. I wished I had more time to see the many other rooms in the museum with art from various historical periods.
The Chagall exhibit was on view January 28 to June 11, 2017.

On the street outside the museum a colorful design was being installed. Mount Royal is in the distance.