Шагал окрыляяяяееет! Летающая арт-парочка Бэлла и Шагал.

Key Points

• The podcast episode focuses on Marc Chagall and his wife Bella, exploring the true story behind their famous floating lovers motif and debunking romanticized myths.
• Both grew up in Vitebsk but from different social classes: Chagall from a poor family, Bella from a wealthy jeweler’s family.
• They met through Bella’s friend Thea Brakhman, who was briefly Chagall’s muse before Bella.
• Bella was highly educated: she graduated from Moscow’s Higher Women’s Courses, studied acting, worked as a journalist, and defended two dissertations.
• Their wedding was funded by collector Ivan Morozov, who bought Chagall’s painting "The Barber’s Shop" for 100 rubles.
• Chagall’s floating figures represent real emotional and physical sensations, not mere fantasy, rooted in the Jewish concept of “luftmentsh” (air person).
• Key paintings discussed: "The Birthday" (1915) and "Over the Town" (1914–1918), which show Chagall and Bella floating together, symbolizing their love and escape from everyday life.
• The host announces a break, thanks listeners for support, and seeks sponsors for the podcast.

Summary

This episode of the podcast "Art for the Boys" (Искусство для пацанчиков) delves into the true story of Marc Chagall and his muse Bella Rosenfeld, whose love became immortalized in some of the most recognizable images in modern art. The host begins by acknowledging a two-month hiatus, thanking listeners for their continued support and donations, and announces efforts to find a sponsor to produce the podcast more regularly, including video formats. She also promotes her lectures, Telegram channel, and short videos on YouTube, which blend art history with pop culture, such as an analysis of "Stranger Things."

The main narrative contrasts the romanticized version of Chagall and Bella’s relationship with the gritty reality. Both were born in Vitebsk—Chagall (born Moyshe Shagal) in 1887 into a poor, large family of nine children, and Bella (born Basya-Reiza Rosenfeld) in 1889 into a wealthy jeweler’s family. Chagall’s early life was humble; his father sold herring, and the family lived in a tiny house that the host visited, noting its surprising smallness. Bella, by contrast, grew up in the city center, attended the prestigious Alekseyevskaya Gymnasium, and excelled in French and German, allowing her to study at the Moscow Higher Women’s Courses (Guerrier Courses). She later changed her name from Basya-Reiza to Bella, first in Moscow and then in Europe.

Their meeting was far from the fairy tale often portrayed. In 1909, Chagall was visiting Vitebsk and staying with his then-girlfriend, Thea Brakhman, a mutual friend of Bella. While lounging on Thea’s father’s doctor’s couch, Chagall heard a melodic voice—Bella’s—and felt an instant connection. Despite the awkward circumstances, he realized she was his soulmate. Bella’s family initially disapproved of the “shlemazl” (Yiddish for loser) artist, but Bella defended him as a “luftmentsh” (air person), a folkloric figure representing someone floating above earthly concerns—a concept that later inspired Chagall’s flying lovers.

Chagall then left for Paris to study, but their correspondence kept the flame alive. Bella, meanwhile, pursued multiple passions: she earned a degree, studied acting at the Nezlobin Theater, worked as a journalist for "Utro Rossii," and defended two dissertations on the emancipation of Russian peasants and Dostoevsky. When Chagall returned to Vitebsk in 1914, World War I trapped them in Russia for seven years. Lacking funds for a wedding, they were saved by collector Ivan Morozov, who bought Chagall’s painting "The Barber’s Shop" for 100 rubles—the same amount Bella’s family paid for her annual tuition.

This period saw Chagall’s iconic floating paintings, which he insisted were not fantasies but real sensations of love lifting him off the ground. The episode highlights "The Birthday" (1915), painted just before their wedding, where Chagall floats above a startled Bella, and "Over the Town" (1914–1918), which shows the couple flying over Vitebsk’s rooftops. Bella’s own memoir, "First Encounter," vividly describes the moment Chagall painted her, feeling as if he “tore her from the earth” in a whirlwind of colors—a scene the host humorously interprets as a metaphor for their first sexual encounter.

The episode concludes by emphasizing that Chagall’s art is deeply rooted in his Jewish Hasidic upbringing, which valued emotional connection with God through music and dance, explaining why his canvases are filled with floating figures, musicians, and angels. The host encourages listeners to explore Chagall’s works and memoirs, noting that his paintings, like his writing, are inseparable from his lived experience and love for Bella.