Legal Affairs

July|August 2005

The Revolutionary Chagall

LIKE MANY RUSSIAN ARTISTS AND MANY RUSSIAN JEWS, Marc Chagall wasn't sure what to make of his country's 1917 revolution. An active participant in it at the age of 30, he then became the commissar for fine arts in his hometown until he was dismissed two years later. His offense, some experts say, was that his art was considered too modern. Chagall soon moved to Paris, where he watched the revolution unfold from a distance, hopeful yet concerned. The artist would remain in

The painting, from 1937, shows Vladimir Lenin doing a handstand, to symbolize that "he stood Russia on its head," according to Benjamin Harshav, an art history expert who has written about the painting. An old Jewish man is shown reading the Torah to emphasize the promising but, in the end, terrible effect that the revolution had on Jews. Although they were given civil rights for the first time, many were killed in pogroms that accompanied the revolution.

The parallels aren't exact, but today many outside observers are again watching Russia, wondering whether President Vladimir Putin is stabilizing the government and rebuilding the rule of law, or pushing the country back toward the crippling dictatorship that dominated it for so much of Chagall's lifetime.

Discussing her concern that Putin's government is abusing the legal system with impunity, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, during an April trip to Moscow, "We want to be sure that the law is powerful in Russia."

—THE EDITORS



					July\|August 2005 The Revolutionary Chagall LIKE MANY RUSSIAN ARTISTS AND MANY RUSSIAN JEWS, Marc Chagall wasn't sure what to make of his country's 1917 revolution. An active participant in it at the age of 30, he then became the commissar for fine arts in his hometown until he was dismissed two years later. His offense, some experts say, was that his art was considered too modern. Chagall soon moved to Paris, where he watched the revolution unfold from a distance, hopeful yet concerned. The artist would remain in The painting, from 1937, shows Vladimir Lenin doing a handstand, to symbolize that "he stood Russia on its head," according to Benjamin Harshav, an art history expert who has written about the painting. An old Jewish man is shown reading the Torah to emphasize the promising but, in the end, terrible effect that the revolution had on Jews. Although they were given civil rights for the first time, many were killed in pogroms that accompanied the revolution. The parallels aren't exact, but today many outside observers are again watching Russia, wondering whether President Vladimir Putin is stabilizing the government and rebuilding the rule of law, or pushing the country back toward the crippling dictatorship that dominated it for so much of Chagall's lifetime. Discussing her concern that Putin's government is abusing the legal system with impunity, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, during an April trip to Moscow, "We want to be sure that the law is powerful in Russia." —THE EDITORS