64 Friday, December 1, 1978 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Local Artist Max Shaye Calls New Marc Chagall Book `Superb' (Editor's Note: Max Shaye, the reviewer of the Chagall book, has at- tained eminence as an ar- tist whose works are on display in art institutes and many important pub- lic buildings. He is an active Detroit community leader, having served, among many other capacities, as general chairman of the Allied Jewish Campaign.) By MAX SHAYE When Marc Chagall (originally Segal) was asked why he painted the soldier's face green, he replied "Why not?" In a superb new biog= raphy of the 91-year-old, ("Marc -Chagall" -Putnam and Sons), last great master of the 20th Century art, Sidney Alexander records the life of Chagall starting in Vitebsk up to present-day St. Paul de Vence. It is an exciting novel-type story. It traces Chagall's early years in czarist Russia Vit- ebsk; his apprenticeship as an artist in St. Petersburg; his fledgling years in the Montmartre where he met Modigliani, Soutine, Picasso and a host of others; his return to Russia where after the Revolution he was made Commissar of Fine Arts; and his return to "Paris, where he exited just in time to escape the Ger- mans. Finally, in New York he joined the exiles Mond- MARC CHAGALL rian, Leger, Lifschitz and others. Throughout his career, he retained the imagery that stayed with him from his earliest years in Vit- ebsk. An example would be the cows that ap- peared in his work. His grandfather was a "shohet" and young Chagall often visited the cattle "waiting for Zayda." Chagall retained vivid memories of those cows as well as the chic- kens and goats that were such a great part of shtetl life. Chagall felt that color had nothing whatever to do with nature. His color often relates to a world not seen by the eye. "Blue is not a color, but a state of soul," he said. Once during Sukkot his zeide disappeared, and was discovered later on top of the roof where he had died suddenly in New climbed. "Not bad for a York at age 53. painting" Chagall remarks. During this period, How many bearded Jews on Chagall's work suffered a rooftops inhabit his painted serious relapse. His one world! His many aunts, he child Ida was especially describes in his "My Life" helpful to him. It was Ida were constantly flying who found a young English through the markets, woman to serve as his "winged like angels." Again housekeeper. and again, uncles and aunts Virginia McNeil was un- and members of his family reappear in his paintings. happily married and soon His is strongly wedded to became Chagall's lover. She his cultural roots in the became pregnant with his child. A boy, David, was Russian ghetto. Unlike Picasso, Chagall born. She lived with him for has not gone through shar- seven years but suddenly ply differentrated phases. left him one day. She felt His work has been essen- that living with Chagall at tially unmodified in image, this high point in his career form and color, from his ear- was comparable to living liest work to the present. To with an institution. She just some critics this represents couldn't cope with it. His present wife of 20 an artistic limitation. To the writer of this biography years, Valentina, is in full it is a reaffirmation of an charge of Chagall's career - looking after him and man- immense talent. The book gives many aging his affairs. small interesting details The relationship be- about Chagall. His first tween Chagall and teacher was Jehude Pen; Picasso was interesting. his first sale in 1910 was It was pure jealousy. In to one Venaver of two their latter years they re- paintings for 40 rubles. fused to see each other. "I His first love and wife, don't know where he gets Bella Rosenfeld, came those images" Picasso from a wealthy jewelry- said of Chagall. "I think store owning family. he's a genius, if only he (Chagall's father worked could paint," Chagall unloading herring said of Picasso. The barrels.) Bella was the in- Spaniard was especially spiration for his paint- irked when the Russian ings of brides, floating or "took up" pottery at Val- otherwise. She was his auris which Picasso felt- life-long love, his man- was his own special ager, his "neshoma." She preserve. • 'Munich in M i ddle East' Reviews U.S. Policy By ALLEN WARSEN Dr. Peter Kirsch, novelist and non-fiction writer, authored the timely volume "Munich in the Middle East" (Shengold). The "foreword" by jour- nalists M. Brannan and W. Mehlman presents the thesis that had Israel at the time of its establishment opted for Moscow instead of the West its existence would have been secure, as all of Russia's friends are "safe and snug." Whether this thesis is correct or not is a moot ques- tion. It is true as Dr. Kirsch notes in his "introduction" that the Soviets support Is- rael's Arab neighbors prin- cipally to create "tension in the region to keep the var- ious players in need of arms and thus maintain and ul- timately strengthen its foothold in the region." A number of books have appeared in recent years that trace Arab hostility toward the Jewish people to the Ko- ran. Dr. Kirsch agrees with their view and points out that in 1066 the Jews of Granada were slaughtered by Arabs; in 1305 in Egypt synagogues were destroyed; in Morocco pogroms oc- curred in 1670, 1789, 1859, and 1863; in 1840, the Damascus Blood Libel was followed by the mur- der of scores of Jews. The author also recalls that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem encouraged and assisted Hitler in the ex- termination of European Jews. Likewise, the Pales- tinian National Covenant adopted by the First Pales- tinian Congress in 1964 and , re-affirmed four years later is the result of the Koran- inspired enmity toward Jews. The war of 1948, moreover, intensified this feeling of hatred and added to it a new dimension: "The shame-revenge syndrome." The author believes that this syndrome is the chief reason for the indiscrimi- nate Arab terrorist attacks within and outside Israel. Dr. Kirsch is greatly con- cerned about Israel's inter- nal dynamics, especially its of the loss of 20 million citi- economic, social, cultural, zens." and religious problems. He - - The author recounts the notes that Israel's system of tragic history of the U.S.. proportional representation with respect to the refugees leads to a coalition govern- from Nazism, and reminds ment. This "implies the us of FDR's disappointing necessity of compromise and evasive attitude that restricts the freedom of • towards Hitler's victims. action of the administra- Similarly, his policy ,"re- tion, thus weakening it." garding Zionism and the Furthermore, Israel's Arabs was a matter of con- economic dependence on tradictions, hypocricy, the U.S., Dr. Kirsch as- doubletalk, and promises to serts, limits its freedom to one side coupled with de- maneuver and affects its nials and counterpromises security. Had it not been to the other." . The author describes in for this dependence, Is- rael's victory in 1973, a compelling manner the would have been com- developments leading to the recognition of Israel's plete. independence by Other factors contribut- President Harry S. Tru- ing to Israel's internal man, and delineates the weakness, the author ob- U.S. policies toward Is- serves, are the discords be- rael following its estab- tween the religionists and' lishment. secularists, the clashes be- Inter alia, he states, "A tween the Oriental and Oc- President's Middle East cidental Jews, the never policies at times conflict ending strikes, and the with those of State and De- emigration of numerous fense and at times coincide. Jews from Israel. According When the latter state of af- to the author, "Israel has fairs obtains, it always lost one-tenth of its popula- bodes ill for Israel" because tion . . . To relate this to "the essence of American America it is the equivalent policy is appeasement of the Arabs." This policy of appease- ment, the author concludes, has failed. He proposes that instead of appeasing the Arabs,- the U.S. declare "that the auspices al•e favorable for Arab ap- peasement of one single American whim — the ces- sation of agression against Israel." MAX SHAYE Alexander singles out Chagall for criticism for his failure to express himself about the persecution of Soviet Jewry when he made his highly publicized 1973 trip to Russia as guest of the Soviets after 50 years of exile. In an interview by Newsweek Chagall was asked if he considered him- self, a Russian-Jewish painter. His reply, "In art there is no nationalism. Russia is still in my heart. But without France I would not be Chagall." Alexander wryly observes in his book: "Curiously the Jewish com- ponent of the troika is mis- sing." It also is interesting to note Chagall's great disap- poinSment in the placement of his windows at the Hadassah Hospital Synagogue in Jerusalem. He felt the architectural background was inferior. In reading this biog- raphy, I found it neces- sary to have a book of Chagall's painting alongside. It's espec:. frustrating to read a de- tailed account of how or why he created a paint- ing without being able to see the painting itself, al- though the book does have about a dozen excel- lent photographs of Chagall and his family. The flying brides, green cows, flying goats, flowers and lovers that populate Chagall's paintings reflect a concept of art that is the language of emotion. His work, both sophisticated and- rnfantile has the charm and power of genius, which soars over the art sky like the "luft-menschen" in his paintings. Four Suits Better Than Two or Clothes Make the Man By DAVID SCHWARTZ (Copyright 1978, JTA, Inc.) Say what you will, Israel is a strange land. Imagine a country whose chief of state has only two suits. We are referring to Menahem Begin. How could such a man be chosen prime minister? Suppose he spills some soup on his suit and the other suit is at the tailor and some foreign diplomat arrives, what does he do? Show him- self in his pajamas? That might create an international incident. In fact, it almost did in the early days of America when Thomas Jefferson, half clad, received the British ambassador who felt greatly offended. Fortunately war was av- erted. Really though in the case of Begin, it is not so bad. For on becoming prime minis- ter, Begin bought two more - suits, so now he has four suits, so even if he spills soup on two suits and one suit is at the tailor, he will have a suit left. We found out all about this reading a story in the New York Post. The headline running across the page read: WORLD LEADER WHO HAS NEVER OWNED A CAR OR HOME AND CAME TO OFFICE WITH ONLY TWO SUITS The writer, the news correspondent Dial Torger- son in Jerusalem, goes on to say that Begin is "the poorest head of government in the developed world." Be- fore becoming prime minis- ter, we are told that Begin lived in a dark two-room apartment on Rosenbaum Street in Tel Aviv. He did make a little money when he wrote his book about the Irgun in the War for Inde- pendence, but he gave the money to the men of Irgun who had been wounded in the war — just as he is giv- ing the Nobel Prize money to charity. The Begin story recalls the case of Sam Adams, the man who is known "as the father of the American Revolution." Old Sam didn't have much in the way of clothes either. Adams was the man who led the Boston Tea Party which dumped the British tea into Boston harbor. You might call Adams the leader of the American Ir- gun. The British went look- ing for Adams as they did more recently for Begin. In fact, it was when the British went looking for Adams that there occurred the opening battle of the American Revolution — "the shot heard around the world" as the poet called it. Like Begin, Adams didn't have much money. He ran a little malt shop but he spent little time there. - His real business was fighting for in pendence. He wasn't proud to wear the °id clothes of his friends. I said Begin now has four uits. Well, the fact is one d ay the clothing picture of Adams changed too. It hap- ened this way. The Conti- n ental Congress was about t o meet and his friends bought old Sam ought to 1 ook nice. So it was when Adams bowed up in Philadelphia or the Congress which was o declare independence, old S am looked like a new man. Y ou could hardly recognize h im — the same way as B egin with his four suits.