The Cock and the Pearl 1927 - 1930

This is Marc Chagall's 'The Cock and the Pearl', an etching made using delicate lines. The whole image shimmers with the texture of mark-making as process; he's not afraid to show his working. See how the mass of tiny lines create the body of the cock. They're almost scribbled but build up to give a real sense of its weight, its presence. I love the way the landscape is rendered with a similar lightness of touch, as if the whole image is a memory or a dream. There are also some beautiful dark areas where he's built up the ink, so that the cock's plumage has a brooding quality. Chagall's prints and paintings often depict dream-like worlds, and I can see a connection with other artists like Odilon Redon, who explored similar themes of fantasy and imagination. For Chagall, art was a way to express his inner world, and it's up to us to bring our own experiences and feelings to it.