Marc Chagall 2016

Andrey Allakhverdov painted *Marc Chagall*, using oil on canvas, though we don’t know exactly when. The colour palette is a beautiful blend of earth tones, punctuated by bold choices like the blue beard of the portrait on the easel. You can almost feel the layering of paint, the brush dancing across the canvas. I love how the painting acknowledges the messy, material process of making art. Allakhverdov really captures the tactile, physical engagement with the medium. Look closely at the figure on the easel, how each stroke adds a new dimension. He’s there and not there. I think Allakhverdov is riffing on something Chagall did himself, or maybe a dialogue. In the end, art is an endless conversation, artists influencing one another across time and space. Just as in life, things are never quite fixed; the meanings shift, and everything remains open to interpretation.