The White Crucifixion: A novel about Marc Chagall

As the subtitle says, this is a novel about Marc Chagall—it follows him from childhood in Vitebsk to artist years in Paris, back to Vitebsk where he's stuck in 1914 and where, eventually after the Bolshevik revolution, he becomes the director of the Vitebsk art school, and finally back to Paris and his art. I didn't know much about Chagall beyond his name before reading this book, but followed the story well enough and enjoyed the descriptions of the art and specific works. ( )

I found this hard to follow without at least some images of the pictures described. Eventually I stopped caring. I really never got the feeling that I was gaining any insights into Chagall's work. ( )

Reading this was an intense submersion in being Chagall (as researched and imagined by the author). I initially felt embarrassed as a voyeur but I was so enthralled with the experience I lost myself. The character descriptions and choice of content were impeccable. I received this as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer. Thank you. ( )

This fictional biography of Marc Chagall is written in a style that mimics his paintings, full of life, vitality, and enmeshed in the Jewish tradition. A peak at some of his fellow painters and sculptors added to the intrigue. ( )

Vitebsk, Belarus: A Jewish son of a herring schlepper starts out become one of the most famous painter of the 20th century.

'The White Crucifixion' narrates his way to his artistic apogee in the Parisian art colony 'The Hive' and his shocking encounters with the 'Suprematist people' back home - the communist myrmidons with their disgusting idealism of communal life and communal thinking - and later the pogroms initiated by the incoming Nazi troops of Germany.

The book, not always that easy to read, depicts Chagall as a painter deeply immersed in his Jewish tradition eternalizing it with passion and originality on to canvas. It shows us a man totally devoted to his genius and unalterable in his choice of colours.

It's a book that makes you pause for a while.
So, four stars. ( )