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88
Friday, April 19, 1985
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
■
Born in a shtetl,
the artist's work
was unique,
spritely
and filled with
magic.
JEW IN BLACK AND WHITE 1914, oil
on cardboard mounted on canvas.
THE PROMENADE 1917-18, oil on canvas.
MARC CHAGALL
1887-1985
An Appreciation
BY ARTHUR J. MAGIDA
Special to The Jewish News
arc Chagall gave
us a world of ma-
gic, of fantasy, of
delicate and tex-
tured mythology. Perhaps
most important. he linked us
to a world that has disap-
peared with time — the world
of Eastern European shtetls,
of Jewish community and
Jewish folk life that was rich
and robust and carried a vi-
tality that may never be seen
again.
Chagall died March 28 ,t
his home on the French itiv-
iera. At age 97, this was not
unexpected. But just as there
was something timeless about
Chagall's vision — about his
work filled with cows soaring
through the air, lovers riding
horses in the sky and fiddlers,
of course, on roofs — there
was also something timeless
about the man.
Anyone whose career
spanned more than seven de-
cades seems enviously inde-
fatigable; anyone whose can-
vases, stained glass, stage de-
signs and book illustrations
had such charm seemed to
have a life that was itself
endlessly charmed.
"I work iii whatever me-
Continued on. Page 62