Father and Grandmother
1914
- tempera on cardboard. 49,4 х 36,8
- ЖБ-1898
Пост. в 1926–1928 из Музея художественной культуры, Ленинград
- Period Late 19th century – Early 20th century
- Portrait
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“My father seemed enigmatic and sad to me. Incomprehensible, somehow. Нe is always exhausted and anxious…” This is how Chagall describes his father on the first pages of his autobiography My Life, with his “long, never-trimmed beard, his dark brown, almost ash-coloured eyes, and a face the colour of burnt ochre, with wrinkles and folds.” (Chagall, Marc. Moya zhizn’. Ellis Luck, Moscow, 1994, p. 2) His portrait of his father is filled with the same tenderness as the description above. Chagall’s grandmother is depicted near his father in a painting imbued with domestic peace and comfort. This piece dates from the period when Chagall had returned to Vitebsk from Paris, and painted not only members of his family but also scenes from everyday life.
It was exhibited in 1916 in Moscow at the Knave of Diamonds exhibition (No. 351) and in Petrograd at the Contemporary Russian Painting exhibition (No. 100).