Les Mariés c. 1965 - 1970

Curator: Before us is "Les Mariés," or "The Married Couple," a watercolor by Marc Chagall, created sometime between 1965 and 1970. What are your initial thoughts on this artwork? Editor: It feels both joyful and melancholy at the same time. The colors are rich, but the composition is somewhat unsettling. The large chicken dominating the foreground feels like it’s observing a scene of intimacy with detached amusement. Curator: Chagall often uses these symbolic elements rooted in his personal history and the cultural context of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. The rooster, for instance, is a recurring motif often associated with virility, fertility and protection. He brings that forward to give some depth to the artwork’s portrayal of marriage and family. Editor: Right, and looking at the placement, it towers over the tiny figures below in bed, their faces barely discernible, seemingly floating over the Russian landscape. It definitely shifts what would be considered traditional artwork about relationships. It introduces how complicated issues of power, domesticity, or even patriarchal family dynamics may affect a couple. Curator: Absolutely. The figures lack distinct identities, perhaps suggesting an archetypal representation of marriage. Consider, too, the upside-down positioning of figures that suggests his awareness and involvement with the rise of Modernism as a response to growing industrialization, yet, it manages to retain folk-like, dreamlike visual metaphors, nodding to the long standing issues and potential chaos. Editor: The palette – predominantly warm, earthy tones mixed with these surprising blues and greens in the chicken – contribute to the dreamlike atmosphere. One may reflect if such fantastical romantic expression can even be accessible today given ever shifting perceptions. Curator: This work acts as a critical touchpoint, exploring themes of identity, memory, and the often complex, multifaceted experience of love and marriage. The blurring between the personal and the symbolic invites a more nuanced reading that transcends the purely celebratory. Editor: For me, I walk away recognizing how the painting offers us a window into the social conventions around love and the couple. It gives us the challenge to discuss and create more art on contemporary subjects about the couple dynamic.