EXHIBITION "OF GLASS AND STONE, CHAGALL IN MOSAIC"

MAY 24 - SEPTEMBER 22, 2025

MARC CHAGALL NATIONAL MUSEUM

Like stained glass, tapestry and ceramics, mosaic was one of the new artistic expressions that Marc Chagall experimented with after the Second World War when he returned to France in 1949 in Vence. It opens up new paths for the artist in his research on light, matter and colour and the creation of monumental works in dialogue with architecture.

The artistic understanding that Chagall established with the mosaicists embodies a synergy where innovation and heritage meet, revealing the way in which an ancestral technique can stimulate contemporary creation. Thus, from 1958 to 1986, Chagall produced fourteen mosaics spread over the South of France (Nice, Vence, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Les-Arcs-sur-Argens), the United States (Chicago and Washington), Israel (Jerusalem) and Switzerland with a work created for a private mansion in Paris and then transferred to the Gianadda Foundation in Martigny in 2003.

This exhibition is an opportunity to offer, for the first time, a complete panorama of the fourteen mosaic projects carried out by Chagall, through numerous works and archival documents. Given the architectural character of the mosaic, some twenty-five sketches and models of Chagall's mosaics illustrate the artist's research and creative process, while four to five mosaic pieces are exceptionally brought together and will constitute a highlight of the exhibition.

It is also an opportunity to highlight the mosaic Le Char d'Elie, made in 1971 for the Marc Chagall National Museum, by presenting it opposite the two models of this work, including the unpublished one acquired in 2023. A set of paintings, drawings, engravings and lithographs complete the subject.

Coming from private collections and national and international institutions, these works are highlighted by an immersive scenography giving pride of place to large photographs of mosaics in large format as well as interactive devices intended to introduce this ancestral technique to the public. The museum makes this exhibition accessible to as many people as possible through tactile devices allowing them to understand the mosaic technique, for everyone, especially families and people with visual impairments.

This exhibition is co-produced by the GrandPalaisRmn, the National Museums of the Twentieth Century of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Museo d'Arte della città di Ravenna (Italy). The exhibition will be presented from October 2025 to January 2026 at the Museo d'Arte della città di Ravenna (Italy).

On the occasion of this exhibition, the catalogue raisonné of Marc Chagal's mosaics will be published on May 24 on the marcchagall.com website. It is produced by the Marc Chagall Archives & Catalogue Raisonné, in collaboration with the Marc Chagall Committee and the Marc and Ida Chagall Archives in Paris.

Commissioner-General
Anne Dopffer, Director of the National Museums of the Twentieth Century of the Alpes-Maritimes
Grégory Couderc, Scientific Director of the Collections of the Marc Chagall National Museum, Nice

Find information and tickets on https://musees-nationaux-alpesmaritimes.fr/chagall...