On the Stove 1922 - 1923

Marc Chagall made this etching, called 'On the Stove', with a fine needle and a clear, playful vision. I'm thinking about Chagall’s hand moving across the plate, scratching and biting into the surface. It feels like a dreamscape, doesn’t it? A figure floats on the stove, defying gravity, while a woman stands nearby, perhaps oblivious or maybe deeply connected to this whimsical reality. The lines are spare but so full of feeling. I imagine him, back then, in his studio, maybe thinking about his childhood in Russia. He was probably trying to capture a feeling more than a scene, letting the image emerge from memory and imagination. You know, that’s what painting is all about: not just showing what’s there, but what could be, what you feel. That little basket of eggs there - maybe that's hope? Painters have always played with reality. I’m always looking at how others have done it, stealing their secrets, adding my own twist. It's all one big conversation across time, one artist whispering to another.