Chagall's Floating Worlds

The second graders took a look at two paintings by Marc Chagall, one painting is of his hometown in Russia, the other is of his time he spent in Paris perfecting his paintings.  Can you tell which is which?

The differences can tell us a lot about the artist and how life was back then. First, we can look at the village painting and see that it is cold and bland. In contrast, we can see that the second painting is more decorative and vibrant. What do you think this tells of about life in both of these places?

As we discussed these pieces, we could not help but notice that Chagall seemed to have a problem with gravity, always placing his subjects in the air as if a ghost floating through the memories of his paintings.  The second graders then used their knowledge of patterns and colors to create a vibrant figure ready to go out on the town for an evening of excitement in Paris.  To "top off" the project, we decided to give our figures the power to float through the air as well.  Can you tell what we used for our solution?