Birthday 1915

Marc Chagall made this oil on canvas, called Birthday, with a very particular kind of joyful expression. It feels so buoyant, like an embrace, a kiss, a floatation! Look at how the colour comes together, an arrangement of strong reds, whites, blues, and greens, making the figures and the interiors so alive. You can imagine Chagall, brush in hand, letting these shades flow onto the canvas, building layer upon layer, figuring out the composition as he goes along. I love the way he has painted the man almost upside down, as if floating in space, and how the two faces lock together so tenderly. There's this constant dialogue in painting, and Chagall is totally part of it, echoing so many other artists but also creating something uniquely his own. Painting is so strange because it's like trying to capture a feeling with gobs of colored mud. It's this alchemical process where ambiguity is just as important as clarity, leaving space for us to see and feel and interpret.