Marc Chagall: White Crucifixion

The "White Crucifixion" by Marc Chagall is a work of art that Pop Francis has said mirrors his own work (Untener 12). The Catholic Pope seemed to be at ease with the message conveyed in Chagall's picture that Jesus Christ does not represent Jewish salvation but rather the Jews (Untener 12). When compared to Pop Francis' many sermons, which support the weak, disadvantaged, and disenfranchised, the image seems to make perfect sense. Francis is not the only individual who finds Chagall's painting fascinating, though. The White Crucifixion was referred to as a programmatic painting of the twenty-first century by Walther, Metzger, and Chagall (62). The words "program" and "painting" together make up the phrase "programmatic painting." The idea behind “programmatic painting” refers to painting that has been composed in order to express a certain idea, narrative or a picture and not an absolute painting for its own sake (Schreckenberg and Schubert 171). The White Crucifixion is accepted as a programmatic painting in the sense of the portrayal of sequences is characteristic firs t of Jewish art, whereas in the Christian context it is not attested until later. According to Walther, Metzger and Chagall (62), the White Crucifixion is based on Chagall’s aesthetic aims which are described in the words: “If a painter is a Jew and paints life, how is he to keep Jewish elements out of his work! But if he is a good painter, his painting will contain great deal more. The Jewish content will be there, of course but his art will aim at a great universal relevance”. In view of this aspect this paper closely analyzes Chagall’s White Crucifixion with an aim of highlighting how programmatic paintings create universal relevance.

Description of Discussed Artwork

The White Crucifixion portrays Jesus as a practicing Jew and wears a prayer shawl as his crucified on the cross. The identity of Jesus as evident in the painting has been altered significantly. For instance, Chagall replaced the traditional loincloth worn during the crucifixion with a Jewish prayer shawl. The garment has two black stripes close to its fringed edges and longer fringes in its corners (Amishai-Maisels 139). On the head of Jesus, the crown made of thorns has been replaced with a Jewish head cloth. The surrounding has also been significantly altered. For instance, the angels that mourned Jesus, the three biblical patriarchs and the matriarch were all painted wearing Jewish traditional garments. The crucifixion of Jesus included two criminals on either side. Chagall altered this element by illustrating pogroms devastation on both the left and right side of the crucifixion. On the right side of the crucifixion, there is a synagogue with a Torah ark going up in flames (Amishai-Maisels 139). On the left side, there is a village that has been embezzled and burned, thus forcing refugees seeking asylum in the village to flee using boats and others on foot. At the bottom of the crucifix, there is a child trying to comfort her child. Above the head of Jesus, just over the limits of the upper bar of the cross, the traditional INRI sign which means “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews” can be seen. There is an illuminating light which is coming directly over Jesus’ head and a Christian halo surrounding the head of Jesus. The halo has carefully been balanced by another halo, which can be seen at the feet of Jesus. The halo surrounding the feet of Jesus is one of Judaism’s oldest symbols (Amishai-Maisels 139). A modern setting has been used, with smaller explanatory scenes depicting figures similar to Russian icon being included in the painting.

Artwork Formal Elements

While most people who are fascinated with Chagall’s work are more likely to consider the symbolic nature of the painting, it is perhaps important to consider the formal elements used to develop the artwork. One of the elements used in this painting is iconography. The man Chagall painted on the cross clearly depicts Jesus Christ while the cloths depict a Jewish community. There is a figure infront of the crematorium with a band on the arm, which has been used to symbolize the Nazi (Munsterberg). With a closer look at the picture, one can see a scroll at the bottom right, which is Jewish in nature.

Apart from iconography, Chagall has used a significant number of likes throughout the painting. However, it is critical to note the actual lines that have been used to represent events taking and objects, and implied lines. In this painting, it is easy to differentiate the actual lines from the implied lines by looking at the weight of the lines. Actual lines as used in the painting have great weight, character and other qualities (Lauer and Pentak 132). Implied lines, on the other hand, have been created by positioning a series of points so that the eyes will tend to automatically connect them (Lauer and Pentak 132). Implied lines were particularly used to paint the light, which is shining down on Jesus Christ. Arguably, Chagall also used psychic lines in this painting. This is because while looking closely at the painting, one does not see real lines, not even intermittent points, yet he/she feels a like, a mental connection between two elements. For instance, the angel wearing a white clothe above Jesus has one of his hand pointing towards the direction of the other angels thus causing the audience to focus on what the angel is pointing at.

Chagall has also used implied motion throughout the painting. For instance, there is a Nazi mob to the left of the painting, which is aggressive and running towards the Jews. Motion has also been depicted below with burning house; the furniture that is flying everywhere together with human bodies and the through the Jewish boat that is trying to escape. The flames from the burning house and from the bodies, which are being burned by the Nazi at the crematorium, also create a sense of motion. Motion can also be seen through people’s hands, which appear to be waving and through the Jewish people that seems to be running away from the Nazi and the burning village.

Color also plays a significant part in this painting. For instance, there are shades of black and white colors all over the painting. Pure white has been used to painting the light coming from above Jesus’ head, while shades of black have been used on either side. The scripture at the right bottom left, the candles and the halos both on the head and below Jesus’ feet are also pure white. Chagall only used flesh color on Jesus’ body and decided to use different colors on other characters on the painting. Most significantly, however, is the use of black color, which has not only been used to paint different lines, but is also the color selection of the Nazi people. The flags of the Nazi’s are red in color while the fires are either orange or lighter red in color. The smoke in the background has been created using shades of black. Chagall also used both primary and secondary hue colors in the painting.

The texture of the painting is also of particular significance to Chagall. Note that Chagall has tried to represent different textual feels throughout the painting. For instance, the flames which are shades of orange and the clothes worn by different characters are arguable painted using encaustic texture (Klaustermeier 113). Similar texture seems to have been used to create the different shades of black on the painting, which was required to created different feels. Using encaustic colors enabled Chagall to create motion and other elements. Actual texture was also used in other areas of the painting. For instance, the light coming from above the head of Jesus is an actual color and creates a different feel from the encaustic colors used in other areas of the painting.

Art content

Cohen (164) has described the White Crucifixion as one of Chagall’s best work of art that testifies to the modern Jewish fascination with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The painting, which was produced in 1938, and was completed just around the time of Kristallnacht (the anti-Jewish pogroms of November 9 -10, in Nazi Germany) and on the eve of World War II, is not the only painting by Chagall that has depicted the Christian faith (Cohen 164). In 1912, Chagall painted an image which was dedicated to Golgotha and blended images of the Jews, Judaism and Crucifixion (Walther, Metzger and Chagall 65). Chagall also painted other images depicting the Jewish and Christian religions blended together in the later post war decades of his life (Walther, Metzger and Chagall 65). However, the White Crucifixion seems to serve as a striking and final example of the complexity of the interest that the modern Jewish community might be having in the cross. The White Crucifixion is both busy and crowded, and is particularly helpful to an art historian.

The White Crucifixion, however, is arguably a programmatic painting, which brings about universal relevance. By using the figure of Jesus Christ on the cross to symbolize the passion of the prophet of the Jews and the death of the Christian God who took the form of a man, Chagall has management to locate a universal emblem to represent modern day suffering (Hayman 7). Similar to arma Christi or the equipments shown in traditional crucifixion scenes, Chagall has grouped several images of confusion about the cross (Hayman 7). There are also some revolutionary crowds (Nazi) with red flags rampaging through a village, prowling and burning houses. The refugees on the boat are arguably shouting and gesticulating wildly. Yet, despite the suffering being displayed in the painting, there is a white light coming from above Jesus’ head. The light, which pure white, signifies a path of hope amide the traumatic events taking place on the painting. According to O’Sullivan (77), the white light illuminating down towards Jesus on the cross is well aligned with Chagall’s quote “belief in him can move mountains in despair”, which clearly shows that despite being regarded as the God of Christians, Jesus could also be seen as a savior to Jews.

Pope Francis identified the universal relevance of the White Crucifixion in 2006 when he noted that “Great artists know how to present the tragic and painful realities of life with beauty” (Kravitz 4). Pope Francis also considered the symbolic nature of the painting, which seems to represent people in today’s world that are marginalized, suffering from poverty or are forced to seek asylum in foreign nations. The painting can also be related to Chagall’s life considering the fact that, like other Jews who lived in Czarist Russia, Chagall’s family was poor and oppressed, devoid of basic civil rights (O’Sullivan 79). Jews were confined in “Pale of Settlement” a geographical area located within the Russian Empire (O’Sullivan 79). Jewish children were refused admission to Russian schools, but Chagall was admitted in the third grade after his mother bribed a Russian official (Kravitz 4). In addition to, Chagall was also concerned about the events that took place in 1938. “The Night of the Broken Glass”, which is not regarded as the Holocaust inception, was a pogrom of orchestrated terror throughout the nation against the Jews (Kravitz 4). Chagall, therefore, saw the need to express his outrage, and awake the public sensitivity and compel the whole world to respond to the inhumanity that befell the Jewish community.

Critical Analysis

Creating universal relevance is arguably the main objective behind Chagall’s White Crucifixion. This concept was achieved by using a religious figure of the Christian religion in the Jewish content to represent suffering in the modern world. While components such as color, pattern and visual likeness are critical to the production of a painting, creating an art work, with a universal relevance can be particularly difficult (Morriss-Kay 159). An artist should be able to identify aspects of one culture, group of people or even place and try to mold them in such a way that these aspects will be intertwined with aspects of another culture, group of people or events (Morris-Kay 159). According to Watt (88), an artist should be able to seen and record events with a fresh and unprejudiced eye. The artist should be able to create a painting before the reasoning and calculating mind gets involved and produces delimited and predetermined representations (Watt 88). This unique personal vision transcends everyday reality to create a work of art that has universal relevance as it speaks to individuals from different regions.

Critically, while Jesus is not part of the Jewish religion, Chagall identified Him as a figure, which can be used to represent the modern day suffering of the Jewish people. Painting the White Crucifixion when Jews were suffering from the hands of the Nazi is similar to Jesus suffering in the Christian religion. Chagall, therefore, tries to make Christians to understand that, for most Jews, the cross, which was used to crucify Jesus, is a symbol of oppression. Furthermore, as Pope Francis provided, Jesus does not represent redemption, but He represents the oppressed, the marginalized and the poor people in the society, and therefore, the Jews. These forms of suffering are not just associated with the Jews, but also with the Christians and other religions in the world. Representing them in painting, therefore, provides a better way for an artist to create universal relevance in his/her work.

Conclusion

Marc Chagall has used different forms in his artwork the White Crucifixion to create universal presence. The use of different forms of lines, colors and iconography is evident in the painting. Most significantly, however, is how Chagall has managed to use Jesus Christ’s crucifixion to represent the suffering of the Jews. The symbol is worldly accepted, and even the Catholic leader, Pope Francis has accepted the fact that Jesus represents the poor, marginalized and the oppressed. The White Crucifixion, therefore, is a clear example of how art can be used creates universal presence using various elements of the human cultures, beliefs and even events.











Work Cited

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