The artwork “I and the Village,” created by Marc Chagall in 1911, is an oil on canvas symbolic painting that can be classified within the Cubist art movement. Measuring 191 cm by 150.5 cm, this piece was painted in Paris, France, and it is currently housed at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, NY, United States.
“I and the Village” is a visually striking composition that blends vivid colors, dream-like imagery, and a whimsical use of scale and orientation, characteristics often associated with Chagall’s unique style. The artwork presents a series of juxtaposed elements: a large green-faced man gazes directly at a goat or sheep; the animal’s face also looks out at the viewer, and the space between them is filled with a smaller-scale village scene, featuring houses, a church with an orthodox cross, and a farmer sowing seeds. The array of images and the dreamlike quality suggest a narrative drawn from memories or a stream of consciousness rather than a literal scene. The use of reversed writing, geometric figures, circular forms, and the division of the canvas into different planes reflect the influence of Cubism. A tree bearing fruit diagonally connects the composition, maintaining a sense of continuity amidst the fragmented reality. The artwork, laden with personal symbolism, echoes Chagall’s Russian-Jewish heritage and his life experiences, encapsulating the interplay between the rural village life of his childhood and the complex, abstract ideas of the early 20th-century avant-garde movements.
