Over the weekend, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit the new wing of the Art Insitute of Chicago.

We first walked through Millenium Park, where we encountered a lovely young couple... freshly engaged and excited... we crossed the bridge from the park directly into the new wing.

We started on the third floor, which contained a phenomenal collection of masters.

Sometimes, when visiting an art museum, one piece of art generates a visceral response.  You find yourself drawn to it, for an unknown reason.  All roads lead there.

While this was a quick visit, this one image held my attention.  It was Marc Chagall's 'White Crucifixion' (1938).  I was a student at the Art Institute back in the early 70's, and had seen this image before... but it didn't hold my attention then, as it did now.  I did a little research on this painting, wondering what lead to it's painting, and why it would demand my attention today.

As typical, in a Chagall painting, there were floating images around a central theme.  In this case Jesus crucified on a "t-shaped" crucifix, surrounded by images of Jews being treated poorly. Jesus himself dominates the center of the canvas, hanging on the cross modestly covered by a Jewish prayer shawl (A tallit).  He calls our attention to the fact that Jesus is/was Jewish, and being painted by a Jewish artist.  Yes, the same Jesus that the Christians revere.  Floating over his head, the Hebrew mocking reads "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews", his head surrounded by a halo... an image we've become used to seeing.

In the upper left, we see the Russian army... coming to save Jesus??  or to participate in additional persecution of the King of the Jews and his people?  Marc Chagall was a supporter of the 1917 revolution in Russia, hoping that the revolution would bring Peace and justice to a thoroughly oppressed Soviet/Jewish population.  But that didn't occur, and the oppression continued, so we can presume that this band of Russian army no-goodnicks, is not there for support.

In the top right corner we see a Jewish synagogue burning while the German flag flies, and a brown-shirt with swastika armband calls for more flames.  The year this was painted, was the infamous year (1938) of the Nazi Kristallnacht, when mobs burned down synagogues, and torched Jewish homes and businesses.  Shops were ransacked, their windows broken (Kristalnach... crystal night... the sound of broken glass), homes and businesses ransacked, Jewish cemeteries desecrated and Jewish families dragged out into the streets to be publicly humiliated.  Subsequently many Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps.  Even though Marc Chagall was then living in Paris, this painting clearly reflects his knowledge of what was occurring in Nazi Germany.

At the bottom right of the image, we see a Torah (the five books of Moses) in a pose that shows it absorbing all that's happening... and a transient Jew gathering up the Torah, and miscellaneous holy books lying around on the ground, so that their wisdom and reverence will not be lost to the ages.

And at the bottom left, a boat filled with Jewish refugees makes its way to Palestine in an effort to begin again.  They are calling for help, their homes (above their heads) aflame at the hands of the Russian army.  The unusual angles of the homes representing the clear turmoil they feel.

Above Jesus, a collection of hovering Jewish figures float and talk about what's going on... are these Rabbis discussing the events historically... are these patriarchs lamenting the current situation... does this represent the diaspora (Jews worldwide) discussing current events... we don't know.

This painting raises more questions, than providing answers... but it's clearly angst-filled and passionate.  This is one of Chagall's masterworks... and it sits not far from one of his better known works (shown to the right) the "praying Jew", painted earlier in 1923.  Two powerful pieces, in the same gallery (part of the Art Institute's permanent collection)

(btw... please forgive the colour distortion of the close up images... we were allowed to take photographs, but only without flash, therefore the large variation in color... the top image is much closer to the true colour)