Overwhelmed by Chagall

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We have been stunned into contemplation by our visit to the Marc Chagall National Museum. It holds 17 large canvases done on Biblical themes specifically by Chagall for the museum and which were donated by him to France for the purpose. When the museum opened, he had the distinction of being the only living person ever to have the country dedicate a museum to him.

Please, if you ever have a chance, go see it. Perhaps it will not have the same impact on you that it did on Susan and me. Then you are only out 10 euros and you will have still seen some remarkable works. Not all tastes are the same, I understand that. BUT if it does affect you as it did us, you will remember it with awe for the rest of your life.

Describing the impact of those works on us is beyond my ability. They are overwhelming; for me, they are beyond "beautiful," beyond "magnificent." They create a world of warmth and and joy and suffering and humanity and the relationship between God and people and the Bible that it was painful to leave. And there is love. Brides and grooms, parents and children, God and humanity, all relating to each other with love. How he put it on a canvas is utterly beyond me, but that's no surprise, so many things are. Utterly surprising is how he managed to make me feel it. In my family, the word "love" was almost always used either in the most casual of matters ("I love barbecued hamburgers") or as a weapon: "I love you BUT . . ." It took Susan to teach me how to use it to express affection. The first time she dragged it out of me, it was like having a tooth pulled. I have gotten a little better at it over the years but it can still be a struggle.

Then, here is Chagall. And there is love is every room, on every picture. And I got it.

I took shots of only two pictures just to illustrate the story. I could not choose between them. Susan is standing next to the one which I was going to call the one she "liked best" but a better description is the "one which moved her the most and will stay with her the longest." It is callled "Canticle des Canticles III" (Song of Songs III). She looks sad because it brought her to the edge of tears.

The museum, being a national museum and therefore by statute free from religious influences (???!!!!), will be open Easter Sunday. We will go there with our niece, Kelly, if all else allows. I cannot think of anywhere else we could get that close to God here..

I'm going to pause for a moment now. I need to collect my thoughts.

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Photos

Song of Songs III
Susan moved to tears here