L’angelot Dans Le Bouquet c. 1938 - 1939

Marc Chagall made this painting called L’angelot Dans Le Bouquet with oil paint. Look at the way the paint is applied, thick and almost sculptural. Chagall has built up the surface through layers of strokes. You can see how the colours mix optically, creating a vibrant, almost vibrating effect. The texture is particularly evident in the bouquet itself. Zoom in and notice the small, circular dabs of paint in shades of red, green, yellow and white. These marks coalesce to form a field of flowers that seems to both emerge from and recede into the background. There's a real tension between representation and abstraction in the way he's worked the surface. The angel hovers in the background like a memory or a dream. Chagall reminds me a bit of Odilon Redon, another artist who used flowers as a vehicle for exploring interior states. But where Redon is often melancholic, Chagall is buoyant. It's a reminder that art is never just one thing. It's always a conversation, an echo, a response.