The Fiddler: Marc Chagall
“Marc Chagall, using the same shtetl, creates universal art.” – Harold Prince
The writers of Fiddler on the Roof went through several titles before the show got its iconic name. Among the many considerations were Tevye and His Daughters and The Milkman. However, when the creators saw a picture by Jewish and Russian artist Marc Chagall, they got that burst of inspiration. Chagall’s painting “The Fiddler,” supposedly based on his violinist uncle precariously perched on a roof in a shtetl, spoke to everything they were trying to articulate – both the joy of Jewish music, the colors of the shtetl and the precariousness of their traditions in a changing world.
Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal in 1887) was a prolific multi-disciplined Russian Jewish artist who frequently painted shtetl life, and according to Robbins “translated and elevated the material above the limited appeal of those who recognize its sources and revealed and endeared it to people everywhere.” However, Chagall did not just paint shtetl life, he was an early modernist who worked in a range of styles and formats, from painting to stained glass, ceramics, and theatricals sets.
Chagall was born in near Vitebsk in the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire (modern day Belarus). He grew up in a shtetl as the eldest of nine children and from all accounts had a happy childhood. He moved to St. Petersburg in 1906 to study art at the Zvantseva School of Drawing and Painting where he also had an internship for a set designer of the Ballets Russes. After his education, in 1910 he received a grant and moved to Paris - the center of the art world. There, he not only met several other prominent artists at the time, but he had his first commercial success, displaying at the Ecole de Paris. His work, both of Paris and nostalgic paintings of his life in Vitebsk were both emotive and whimsical with touches of cubism and were said to prefigure surrealism.
After achieving success in Paris, Chagall returned to Russia to visit his family and fiancée, Bella Rosenfeld, where he became trapped by the outbreak of World War I. During this time, he married Bella in 1915 and soon after had a daughter. Unsurprisingly, his work during the war was dominated by scenes of war and death. However, this was also the time he created his work “The Fiddler” and other pieces of shtetl life. Chagall mentioned in his memoir that Hasidic Judaism was a powerful influence on his work and when he spent time during the war at home, realized that the traditions he had grown up with were fast disappearing and he wanted to document them. Fiddles were often present at Hasidic festivities and Chagall had even dabbled in violin playing as well. He painted multiple images of fiddlers on roofs of shtetls but “The Fiddler” because the most prominent.
His witnessing of Jewish persecution also led him to create several deeply religious paintings. He never shied away from his Jewish heritage, instead choosing to put it front and center in his art. The war years in Russia were tough for the artist, and he suffered financially. He founded the Vitebsk Popular Art School and was appointed the Commissar for Art in his hometown, but left after disagreements. He was able to continue to work, including theatrical set design, but as soon as he was able, he returned to Paris in 1923.
Upon returning to Paris, Chagall saw his reputation grow and he was soon travelling all over the world to exhibit. He began working in engravings and lithographs, completing 105 plates for a series of etching illustrating the Bible. However, the rise of the Nazi party and the coming of World War II forced him to flee. In 1937, and again in 1939, Nazi officials burned and destroyed his work (among others), calling him a “degenerate artist” for his ethnicity. In response, he painted the powerful White Crucifixion (1938). In this painting, Jewish and Christian symbols are conflated in a depiction of German Jews terrorized by a Nazi mob; the crucified Christ at the center of the composition is wrapped in a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl. Chagall was able to flee in 1941 to New York and barely made it out before Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
World War II was a very dark time for Chagall. In New York, he was only able to watch in anguish as his hometown was destroyed and Jewish life was lost in the concentration camps. He did not speak English and struggled in America. In addition, he lost his beloved wife Bella suddenty in 1944. Finally, he was able to return to France in 1947 where he saw another resurgence and began incorporating stained glass into his artwork.
By this time, Chagall’s artwork incorporated elements of Cubism, Fauvism, Symbolism, Surrealism, Orphism and Futurism. He stood apart from other artists, by steeping his artwork in his Jewish heritage. He earned the praise of other figures, for instance, Picasso once said that after Matisse died, Chagall would be the only one who understood what color was.
Chagall worked for the rest of his life and traveled all over the world. He began creating large installations such as the windows for the synagogue of the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, the ceiling for the Paris Opera, a mural for the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and more. He designed several sets for the Paris Opera and New York Metropolitan Opera. Jerome Robbins even approached the artist and asked if he’d be interested in designing the set and costumes for Fiddler on the Roof since his work inspired not only the title, but also the design theme that Robbins was trying to emulate of the shtetl life. Chagall graciously declined, and was not involved in any of the designs.
Chagall passed away in 1985. His works can be seen at museums across the world, and he has his own museum Musee National Marc Chagall in France. His work is still celebrated for his dreamlike compositions that intertwine personal memories, folklore, and religious themes. His works revisit motifs of performers and village life, infused with a sense of nostalgia and playfulness. His mastery of various mediums—ink, gouache, watercolor—allowed him to experiment with texture and transparency, adding depth to his compositions. He was a proud chronicler of his heritage in a time where it was being decimated and his artwork still gives the most vivid portraits of Jewish life in Russia.
