This is a painting, entitled "Birthday" created by Marc Chagall in 1915. In this painting, you can find some fantastic, religious, and ethnic atmospheres. I was deeply impressed by the atmospheres when I saw the panting for the first time. Therefore, I would like to tell you about this painting.
Marc Chagall was born July 7,1887. He was one of eight children of a Russian-Jewish family and spent his youth in Russia. In 1923, he moved to France and was deeply influenced by French cubism which was one of the art styles. In 1941, he escaped from Nazi-occupied France to New York. After the end of World War II, he returned to France and spent the rest of his life there. He died in France, on March 28,1985.
In the center of the painting, you can see that a man and a woman are kissing each other. But there is something strange. The man is floating in the air and his head is bent unnaturally. She is wearing dark clothes as if there were a funeral, so I guess that he had already passed away. Today is his birthday. She offers flowers to his illusion. On the right side of the painting, you can see some ethnic cloths. I think that they are Russian quilts or something like that.
Once I saw the exhibition of Marc Chagall's paintings which was held in Osaka, Japan. While I was looking at his paintings, I found many paintings in which ghosts or spirits were painted, just like this painting. There were also many paintings which had some ethnic flavor. Therefore, I felt as if I had been in a fantasy world.
Whenever I see this painting, I can dream of their living in those days. I can also feel as if I were in a dream world. That is why I like this painting so much.
-- Tomohiro Okahisa
I'm going to describe Chagall's painting called Birthday. In this picture we can see a couple in a house, wearing dark clothes. She has a bouquet in her hands and he is floating in the air. In general this is a dark picture but you can see a big red carpet, which gives more color.
When I see this picture I can imagine a couple that have been separated for long time because of his death. Now on her birthday he comes to give her flowers and pick her up and take her away to heaven, so they can be together again.
They used to live together in this house, but when he passed away, her life never was the same, because she missed a lot. She was sad living as a widow, she always wore black clothes, and was alone. For her birthday she wants to die to be with her husband again. And he came as a ghost.
The painter probably, with this dark colors, wants to express the sadness about missing somebody beloved, like a husband. And the red carpet gives the loving touch, because this color is known worldwide as a color of love
-- Pamela Gomez
The spring, a big exhibition was held in Tokyo, Japan. Many people paid attention to one artist. His name is Marc Chagall. When I went there, one of his works, which was drawn in 1923, impressed me. The subject is "birthday". Even though it has such a happy subject, I felt sad. I could imagine a sad story with the following three reasons.
First, when we have a birthday, we usually wear brightly colored clothes. However, the woman and the man whom Chagall depicted are wearing black clothes. It makes me sad.
Secondly, there is one cup, one plate, and one chair in the picture. I can guess that she lives alone and celebrates her birthday by herself, and her lover or husband who seems to pass away comes to her room.
Moreover, only the red carpet has a bright color in the picture. I can say that before the man came into the room, the room was very dark. However, when he appears in front of her to kiss and say "Happy birthday", the room is suddenly getting brighter from the carpet. It shows her mind.
Considering all of the above factors, Chagall must be a delicate person and a good artist because everyone who sees his works can get some feelings from his works. It is important for artist to give people some feelings: happy, sad, and so on, even though artists doesn't intend to make people happy or sad. I like his works.
-- Shoko Unno