There is not a huge amount of information available on this painting, not even on the website of its present owners, MoMA. They have its dimensions down at 68 3/4" x 6' 3 3/4" (174.6 x 192.4 cm), and have listed it as coming from a Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. It is also understood to be oil on canvas, which is the common way in which the artist worked during this period. He remains most famous for his work with oils, but later on would produce many watercolours, drawings and even designs for stained glass windows. There were also series of lithograph prints which helped Chagall to broaden his appeal to a wider audience as well as bringing in additional funds as he could sell large numbers of these fairly quickly as his reputation grew.
Calvary is a theme which relates to the crucifixion of Christ, whilst out in the open air. We see his image within this painting, lifted above all other figures on the left hand side. He is captured in a fractured style that will remind many of Franz Marc paintings, an artist from Germany. Along the bottom is a greater variety of colour, with tones of red, blue and yellow. Several supporters look on in sadness, whilst another comes in from the right with a ladder, hoping to pull Christ down from this cruel posture. Chagall would feature religious themes many times within his career.
Calvary can be found in the collection of MoMA in the USA, which stands for the Museum of Modern Art. They are based in New York but there is another version in San Francisco as well, called the SFMoMA. Both galleries host an impressive selection of art which covers the period of the late 19th century, all the way up to the end of the 20th century. You will find a number of other Chagall paintings here as well, such as Golgotha and also a number of the artist's drawings and lithographs. The Starry Night and Portrait of Joseph Roulin by Vincent van Gogh are two of the most exciting and expressive items to be found here, and this artist may well have influenced Chagall's work, possibly in his use of bright palettes once he arrived in France.
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