Le petit flûtiste 1967

Marc Chagall made *Le petit flûtiste* with oil on canvas, and what strikes me first is how the color feels almost hallucinatory. It’s like the whole world is saturated in blue, but then these bursts of color pop out, like the flowers in the center. Chagall’s application of paint is visible. The surfaces of the buildings seem to be created with a small brush, the overall effect is like tapestry or mosaic. The blues range from ultramarine to cerulean, some parts feel dark and dense, while others almost glow with light. There's a kind of restless energy in the brushstrokes; they're not trying to hide the process, but embracing it. Take the area around the little flautist. It feels like a flurry of marks, almost like musical notes dancing in the air. Chagall always reminds me of Paul Klee, with his playful approach to color, and his embrace of the dreamlike or fairytale. Like Klee, Chagall reminds us that art can be a space for imagination, where the boundaries of reality blur and anything is possible.