"For me a circus is a magic show that appears and disappears like a world. A circus is disturbings . It is profound These clowns, bareback riders and acrobats have themselves at home in my visions. Why? Why am I so touched by their make-up and their grimaces? With them I can move toward new horizons. Lured by their colors and make-up, I can dream of painting new psychic distortions. It is a magic word, circus, a t.mes less dancing game where tears and smiles, the play of arms and legs take the form of a great art. The circus seems to me like the most tragic show on earth. I would like to go up to that bareback rider who has just reappeared, smiling; her dress, a bouquet of flowers. I would circle her with my flowered and unflowered years. On my knees, I would tell her wishes and dreams, not of this world. I would run after her to ask her how to live, how to escape from myself, from the world, whom to run to, where to go"
A Belorussian-born French painter, printmaker, and designer, Marc Chagall is one of the most celebrated early modern and Western artists of the 20th century. Painted in 1970, Scène de cirque is an excellent example of Chagall’s mature work. The striking palette and playful figural arrangement found in the present work exudes an atmosphere of joy synonymous with artist's late works.
The visual experience of the ceremony and pomp of the circus lay at the heart of Chagall’s personal aesthetic. Chagall’s fascination with the circus finds its origins in his childhood in Vitebsk, where he had seen the acrobats in the streets of the Russian town. Upon moving to Paris, he would frequently attend the circus with his dealer Ambroise Vollard, who was a great aficionado of the circus. In 1927, Vollard proposed a new project for the artist, asking him to create a suite of gouaches with this theme. Chagall was granted free use of Vollard’s season box at the Cirque d’Hiver, and from watching these shows regularly, he painted his circus series in two sets, nineteen gouaches in all, which became known as the Cirque Vollard. This whimsical theme that he developed in 1926-1930 would continue to bear fruit for the next half century of this artist’s long life, finding their pinnacle in masterpieces such as the present work.
Portrayed from an aerial perspective, the present work combines the artist’s most archetypal motifs including animals from his enchanted bestiary, musicians from the religious scenes and wedding processions, which mingle with the clowns, acrobats, trapeze artists, floating in their own metaphysical spaces, defying, like the circus itself, the laws of gravity and composition. Such symbols can be found in the artist’s most celebrated works. Audience members form the swath of background, cheering as they witness the flamboyant performers suspended in mid-air. The figure of the titular bride at the right of the composition recalls both Chagall's first wife Bella Rosenfeld, who died in 1944 but continued to inspire him throughout his life, as well as Chagall's second wife Valentina 'Vava' Brodsky, who brought a newfound optimism into the artist's life after the loss of Bella.
Conveying Chagall’s mastery of colour, the composition is bathed in a dazzling vermilion hue, peppered with shades of yellow, purple, and the artist's iconic blue pigment, which he uses to outline the characters in the work. Thee diversity and intensity of the colour scheme adds to the euphoric atmosphere. A paragon of imagination, delight, and wonder, Scène de cirque stands as an animated rendition of one of Chagall’s most quintessential and pertinent themes.
「對我來說，馬戲團就似一個奇幻世界，是一場東西會突然出現或消失的魔術表演。馬戲團是令人不安的。它令人印象深刻。這些在馬戲團中的小丑、赤裸上身的騎師和雜技人佔據了我的思緒。為什麼？為什麼他們的妝容和扮相會如此觸動我？我可以透過他們窺探新的世界。他們身上的色彩和化妝，啟發我創作新畫作中扭曲的形象。馬戲團是一個奇幻的世界，那些永恆不滅的舞蹈充斥著笑和淚，是透過擺動四肢來表達的一種藝術形式。對我而言，馬戲團是世上最可悲的表演。那臉帶微笑的騎師再次出現，她的裙子由許多花朵拼湊而成，讓我想走上前，用我或豐盛或平淡的一生包圍她；我會單膝跪地，向她訴說我天馬行空的願望和夢想；我會追著她問，我到底要如何生活，如何逃離自我、如何逃離世界；我要奔向誰，我要去哪裡」
馬克・夏加爾是出生於白俄羅斯的法藉畫家、版畫家兼設計師。他是20世紀最備受讚譽的西方早期現代藝術家。《馬戲團一隅》繪於1970年，是夏加爾成熟時期作品的絕佳例子。作品用色震撼，構圖有趣，氣氛歡樂，與夏加爾晚年的作品如出一轍。
馬戲團富有儀式感的視覺體驗及其繽紛盛況，深深刻印在夏加爾的個人美學之中。夏加爾對馬戲團的鐘愛，源自他在維捷布斯克的童年生活。年幼時，他看到馬戲團的雜技人穿梭俄國的小鎮街道，令他一見難忘。移居巴黎後，他經常與他的代理人安博瓦・沃拉爾一同觀賞馬戲團——二人同樣熱愛這種表演。1927年，沃拉爾向夏加爾提議，讓他以馬戲團為題創作一系列蛋彩畫。於世沃拉爾讓夏加爾隨意登上他當季在冬日馬戲團的包廂，讓藝術家可定期欣賞演出。由此體驗，夏加爾繪製了兩個馬戲團系列，一共19張蛋彩畫。該系列之後被稱為《沃拉爾的馬戲團》。他在1926年至1930年期間，透過這異想天開的主題開展其創作，並將這概念延伸至藝術家日後漫長一生，下半個世紀的每幅大師級鉅作裡，包括此作。
作品採用鳥瞰角度，結合夏加爾最典型的畫作主題，包括出自魔法寓言故事的動物、來自不同宗教和婚慶場合的音樂家、圍繞著音樂家的小丑、雜技人和空中飛人，它們各據一方，在不同空間漂浮著，就如馬戲團本身，違背了傳統的構圖法則和地心吸力定理。這些具象徵性的題材反覆出現在夏加爾最著名的作品中。在朦朧的背景中，觀眾一邊欣賞華麗的表演者停懸在空中，一邊拍手叫好。畫中右邊那象徵未婚妻的人物，具有夏加爾兩任妻子的神韻。他的第一任妻子貝拉・羅森菲爾德於1944年離世，但繼續啟發畫家，是他的靈感泉源。夏加爾的第二任妻子華倫泰．布羅德斯基（「娃娃」）則為夏加爾在痛失摰愛後，重新帶來歡樂。
畫作展現了夏加爾駕馭色彩的能作，畫作以迷的人朱紅色調為主，綴以一抹抹黃色和紫色；夏加爾再用其標誌性的藍色顏料勾勒畫中人物。色彩之多和鮮豔，令畫作更顯歡快。《馬戲團一隅》集想像力、歡樂和神奇於一身，是夏加爾其中一幅最典型且切題，充滿動感的作品。