L'Opera (The Opera)

Marc Chagall 1887 - 1985

Summary

This vibrantly coloured city scene is made distinctive through the presence of five figures floating in the sky above the buildings. In the bottom of the composition is an aerial view of a city square with three buildings visible around its perimeter and other buildings beyond these. The central building is the grandest, seen face on it has a large number of windows and a domed roof. All of the buildings are coloured in a more subdued rusty red-brown tone that adds weight and offsets the vibrancy of the orange-red that colours the sky. Directly above the central building are three nude figures floating in the sky surrounded by a circle of blue and green. Two of the figures are holding hands and seen at a slight angle, whilst the other figure is seen straight on with both arms raised to play the tambourine. In the sky around these figures there are a series of broken lines and abstract forms that suggest movement. Below the coloured circles, on the right in the middle ground there are two more floating figures, a man and a woman. Both of these figures are clothed, the man is wearing a blue suit whilst the woman, who has both arms raised, is wearing a dress and is coloured green. private: verso - letterpress contents list with title 'Oeuvres Exposees'.