Chagall National Museum in Nice

Sommaire / Summary

The Marc Chagall National Museum in Nice exhibits paintings and lithographs by the artist. The pleasant museum has become a reference, given the quantity and quality of the works exhibited.

Chagall National Museum in Nice

The Biblical Message

Analyses of the paintings are provided by nice-riviera.com: Click on the image to enlarge and read at the bottom.

Musée Chagall à Nice — FR = La Création de l’Homme. Le ciel préfigure l’histoire du peuple juif. L’ange est habillé comme un homme, Chagall s’affirmant ainsi comme créateur et porteur du message divin. EN = The Creation of Man. The sky prefigures the history of the Jewish people, whose sacrifice Christ symbolizes. The angel is dressed as a man, thus affirming Chagall as creator and bearer of the divine message.

FR = Abrahm et les trois anges. Abraham et Sarah apprennent la naissance d’un fils à leur âge avancé. En haut à droite, l’annonce de la destruction de Sodome et Gomorrhe. EN = Abrahm and the three angels. Abraham and Sarah learn of the birth of a son at their advanced age. At the top right, the announcement of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

FR = Le Paradis. On assiste à la naissance d’Eve , tirée de la côte d’Adam. Au-dessus d’elle, déjà la Tentation se profile. Sur la droite, Adam et Eve enlacés s’apprêtent à goûter au fruit défendu. EN = Paradise. We witness the birth of Eve, taken from Adam’s rib. Above her, the Temptation is already looming. On the right, Adam and Eve embraced are about to taste the forbidden fruit.

FR = La Lutte de Jacob avec l’ange. Chagall s’intègre dans la scène en peignant sa maison natale. A droite, Rachel au puits, la vision de son fils Joseph dépouillé par ses frères, la douleur de Jacob, symbole des malheurs du peuple juif. EN = Jacob’s Wrestling with the Angel. Chagall integrates himself into the scene by painting his native house. On the right, Rachel at the well, the vision of her son Joseph stripped by his brothers, the pain of Jacob, symbol of the misfortunes of the Jewish people.

FR = Moïse et le buisson ardent. Moïse s’agenouille devant le buisson ardent. Un ange lui annonce sa mission : conduire les Hébreux hors d’Egypte. Tout à gauche, la traversée de la Mer rouge. EN = Moses and the burning bush. Moses kneels before the burning bush. An angel announces his mission: to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. On the left, the crossing of the Red Sea.

FR = Le Frappement du rocher. Le peuple hébreu affamé et assoiffé malmène Moïse qui fait surgir une source du rocher. EN = The Striking of the Rock. The hungry and thirsty Hebrew people bully Moses who makes a spring appear from the rock.

Le songe de Jacob, musée national Marc Chagall à Nice — FR = Le Songe de Jacob. Pendant que jacob dort, il rêve d’anges dansant autour d’un échelle, symbole de sa longue descendance, cependant qu’à droite, un ange porte un chandelier qui symbolise l’espoir. EN = The Dream of Jacob. While Jacob sleeps, he dreams of angels dancing around a ladder, symbolizing his long descent, while on the right, an angel carries a candlestick symbolizing hope.

FR = Noé et l’arc-en-ciel. En haut, figure l’alliance pleine de promesses entre Dieu et des hommes. En bas, les malheurs du peuple juif. EN = Noah and the rainbow. Above, the covenant full of promises between God and men. Below, the misfortunes of the Jewish people.

FR = L’arche de Noé. La pluie diluvienne est partout. On est là dans l’intérieur de l’arche, symbolisant une seconde naissance de l’humanité. EN = Noah’s ark. The torrential rain is everywhere. We are there in the interior of the ark, symbolizing a second birth of humanity.

FR = Moïse recevant les Tables de la loi. A droite, de bas en haut, le grand prêtre Aaron, David et Jérémie et la fuite es juifs qui se rapprochent de Dieu. A gauche, les juifs sont divisés entre ceux qui attendent Moïse et ceux qui adorent le Veau d’or. Tout en haut, Chagall s’associe à l’histoire des juifs en représentant un couple enlacé et des isbas. EN = Moses receiving the Tables of the Law. On the right, from bottom to top, the high priest Aaron, David and Jeremiah and the flight of the Jews who approach God. On the left, the Jews are divided between those who await Moses and those who worship the Golden Calf. At the top, Chagall associates himself with the history of the Jews by representing an embracing couple and isbas.

The museum contains the Biblical Message paintings of 1966. This series includes 12 works illustrating Genesis and Exodus. The works are large format, with the style so particular to Marc Chagall, between symbolism and Russian neo-primitivism, with many revealing details.
This is the case, for example, of Adam and Eve chased from paradise.

An angel chases Adam and Eve who are about to leave paradise and the painting, while the vertical Tree of Light stands still on the left. But Adam and Eve are accompanied by a red rooster, symbol of vitality and fertility. At the bottom right, we discover a maternity. The couple then, chased out of paradise, are heading towards their future as ancestors of humanity.

Canticle of Canticles

The Chagall Museum also presents five paintings illustrating the Song of Songs, to which Marc Chagall felt close. The cycle of five paintings is dedicated to Vava, his second wife.
In red/pink tones, we discover five episodes of the couple David and Bathsheba, always with many symbolic details that guide the interpretation of the work.

Analyses of the paintings are provided by nice-riviera.com : click on the image to enlarge and read at the bottom.

Les deux gazelles jaune et bleue sont à rattacher aux seins de la femme, dont le Cantique des cantiques disait : Tes deux seins sont comme deux faons // Comme les jumeaux d'une gazelle // Qui paissent au milieu des lis. La femme nue à droite est la jeune femme qui cherchait son fiancé dans Jerusalem la nuit

Other works

Finally, the museum offers other works: lithographs, gouaches, five sculptures, etc.

Marc Chagall and the French Riviera

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) traveled in Europe and the United States, notably driven away by anti-Semitism. Back in France in 1948, he settled in Vence. He works and sells all over the world.
In 1972, he donated the works of the Biblical Message to the French state. The latter, under the direction of Minister André Malraux, undertakes to build a museum to present these works, in a place given by the City of Nice. Marc Chagall participates in the development of the museum.
The museum strengthens its collections through various donations. It has thus become a major museum in Nice and one of the essential museums dedicated to Marc Chagall.

Practical information

Marc Chagall National Museum
Avenue du Docteur Ménard
06000 Nice

Access
Bus line 5, stop Musée Chagall
By foot : 16mn from the Matisse Museum or 12mn from the Thiers central station

Opening
Open every day except Tuesday, January 1st, May 1st, December 25th
From May 2nd to October 31st : 10am-6pm
From November 1st to April 30th : 10am-5pm

Official website

Informations Côte d'Azur

Jean-Marc Foulquier