"Unfortunately the public is slow to accept in painting the same liberty which is accepted, for example, in the traditional language of poetry. It will
take some time for the works of Chagall to be viewed with the maturity of judgment they require. Much of the painting praised today will be forgotten when the forms and colours of Chagall are still giving joy to mankind. Then it will be realised that Chagall has made one of the greatest contributions to the cause of freedom in art."
Lionello Venturi, 1945
"Chagall delle meraviglie":from March 9th to July 1st at the complex of the Vittoriano offers us about 180 works including paintings, gouaches, drawings, sculptures and engravings . These cover the whole itinerary of the life and works of the great Russian master. His interweaving of references and influences make Chagall one of the most independent and innovatory painters of the twentyth century.
The exhibition, staged thanks to the patronage of the President of the Republic and with the collaboration of the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, also has the patronage of the Senate, the House of Deputies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Hebrew Community in Rome, the Istituto per la Storia del Risorgimento Italiano. At the same time, it is promoted by the Comune of Rome , the Assessorato alle Politiche Culturali, Assessorato alle Politiche Educative e Scolastiche, and Assessorato alla Comunicazione, combined with the Presidente del Regione Lazio, Assessorato Cultura, Spettacolo e Sport.
Masterpieces coming from important public museums and prestigious private collections from all parts of the world, document the human and artistic itinerary of the painter . So we may "read" his works through a series of keys of interpretation. The works of Chagall are dense in references to culture and tradition. His apparent "carefree-ness" is far from 'ingenuous ', in fact it is the result of a complex and articulated stratification of experiences and ideological and cultural choices which determine a reciprical interweaving of influences starting with the 'historic' avant guarde and extending to the currents of contemporary art.
The exhibition "Chagall delle merviglie", directed by Meret Meyer and Claudia Beltramo Ceppi Zevi, has had the benefit of a prestigious scientific committee composed of Alan Crump,Professor of the History of Modern Art at the Universirty of Witwatersrand of Johannesburg, Jean-Claude Marcadé, Director Emeritus of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique de Paris, Marcello Massenzio , Lecturer in History of Religions at the University of Rome, Eugenia Petrova, Vice Director of the Russian Museum of St Petersburg , Ekaterina Selezneva, Curatore della Tretjakov Gallery of Moscow, Claudio Strinati, Soprindente per il Polo Museale Romano. The arrangement of works has been co-ordinated by Alessandro Nicosia and carried out by Comunicare Organizzando.
