A Look at Marc Chagall As A Talented Stained Glass Artist

Marc Chagall The Fine Artist

Many people are familiar with the famed artist Marc Chagall–a Russian-French artist and widely known as an early modernist. His vast body of paintings include works like “I and the village” pictured below.

While he is typically associated with the modernist movement, he was actually known to create in several major artistic styles and formats including painting, book illustrations, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and art prints.
Marc Chagall The Stained Glass Master

Chagall was a prolific artist as much as he was talented. He was most known for his exquisite used of color in all mediums. However, what many people do not know is–Marc Chagall was also a prolific stained glass artist. In fact, Marc Chagall’s stained glass windows grace structures worldwide and are beloved for their incredible beauty. Interestingly enough Chagall didn’t begin working in stained glass until late in life, his early 70s, which is incredible considering the breadth of his stained glass work. However, his success in the medium should come at no surprise, considering his deep understanding of light and color. His attention to where light would shine through his stained glass windows, coupled with smart exploitation of glass properties to get the most out of light and color–were the ingredients to his overwhelming success.

Marc Chagall Stained Glass For Churches

Chagall did many church stained glass windows, in fact, he did quite a few stained glass windows in France in particular, but was commissioned by various international churches as well. But, artistry was not relegated to solely churches, as, he did notable “secular” windows too. Some of those windows he created were for institutions here in the US and are still intact today. Likely the most famous US creation, a series is called “America Windows”, can be viewed at The Art Institute of Chicago. These windows are an understandably prized American art treasure as you can see by the video below.

 

Here at Scottish Stained Glass in Colorado Springs, we have nothing but passion for stained glass and stained glass masters like Marc Chagall. His work and the work of other masters inspire both our church and home stained glass work and restoration. For more information on what we do or if you have stained glass questions, reach out to us today!