L’Étable 1953

Marc Chagall made this wash drawing, L’Etable, using broad brushstrokes and diluted ink. The way the ink bleeds softly into the paper makes me think about the nature of memory, how things get hazy around the edges. I wonder if Chagall stood right in front of the scene to make this? Maybe he quickly sketched the forms, like the farmer and the animals – a cow, a chicken – with sweeping marks, capturing not just what things looked like but also how they felt. It's like he was trying to grab hold of something fleeting, something precious from his memories of rural life. That big, looping brushstroke that defines the cow's back seems to hold so much, it’s like a bold declaration of presence. The monochromatic palette adds to the sense of something remembered, like an old photograph, lending a timeless quality to the image. You can sense the exchange of ideas across time.