The Monkey and the Leopard 1927 - 1930

Marc Chagall etched "The Monkey and the Leopard" in black ink. See how Chagall’s lines work here, the sheer number of them. They make me think that he was really trying to capture an image, not just make a picture. It looks like he's figuring something out. When I zoom in, I see how he has labored to construct an image through small movements that build the forms. I can imagine him in the studio, peering at the plate, wondering how to catch the light on the monkey, or the sheen of the leopard’s coat. You know, artists are always in conversation with each other across time, inspiring each other. The image is so dreamlike, yet he really seems to have seen something and wanted to depict it. Every so often, I think, we need a reminder that painting is, at its heart, about trying to convey the world we experience through our bodies.