The Cat and the Two Sparrows 1927 - 1930

Here's the audio guide script: This is Marc Chagall's, 'The Cat and the Two Sparrows,' it’s an etching, so made with ink on a plate and then printed onto paper. Look at how he uses lines, like musical notes, to build up forms. It’s all about the process, scratching and layering, to create this whole scene. The texture is so important here; you can almost feel the scratchiness of the lines. It's as if he's not just showing us a cat, a well, and birds, but also the act of drawing itself. See how the cat's fur is made up of these tiny, nervous lines? It gives the creature so much life, so much nervous energy. Chagall reminds me a little of someone like Guston, how they both embrace a kind of childlike freedom in their mark-making. It’s this sense that art doesn’t have to be perfect or polished, it can be raw and honest. It’s all about feeling, rather than knowing.