Date of Award
8-27-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Art
First Advisor
Floyd Martin
Abstract
Marc Chagall (1887-1985), was a Russian-Jewish artist who created a prolific body of work during the tumultuous era of the twentieth-century. While his artwork came under the influence of modernist trends, Chagall developed his own unique style that has often been described in terms of its "visual poetry." This paper examines how this term applies to one of his most important works of art, the 1938 painting White Crucifixion. Four key ways in which the various forms of art and poetry intersect in this painting are discussed in the context of the historical and cultural conditions that had a profound impact on the artist. Chagall responded to the events of 1938 by depicting Christ as a Jewish martyr in order to draw attention to the plight of Jews. How he expressed his dual role as a poet-artist through the visual language of art is nowhere better represented than in White Crucifixion.
Recommended Citation
Stair, Janis, "The Visual Poetry of Marc Chagall's White Crucifixion" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 599.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/599
