Marc Chagall (1887–1985), “the Oak And The Reed,” Plate 12 From *la Fontaine* (1952), Signed, 28x23 Cm

Marc Chagall (in Russian: Марк Захарович Шагал, Mark Zakharovich Chagal; in Belarusian: Марк Захаравич Шагал, Mark Zakharavich Chagal), born Moïche Zakharovich Chagalov (in Russian: Мойше Захарович Шагалов), was a painter and printmaker born on July 7, 1887, in Liozna in the Vitebsk Oblast of Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire), who became a naturalized French citizen in 1937 and died on March 28, 1985, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, where he is buried.

Chagall is one of the most famous artists to have settled in France in the 20th century, alongside Pablo Picasso. His work, while not belonging to any particular school, displays characteristics of Surrealism and Neo-Primitivism. Inspired by Jewish tradition, life in the shtetl (a Jewish village in Eastern Europe), and Russian folklore, his work developed its own symbolism centered on the artist’s personal life. In addition to painting on canvas, Chagall experimented with printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, poetry, stained glass, enamel painting, and more