Religious ecstacy at Musée National Marc Chagall

(This article is written long time after the visit on May 2019)

This is my only motivation to visit Nice: Marc Chagall. I fell in love with Chagall's works when I first saw his painting: The White Crucifixion (1938) at the cover of Pope Francis' book "Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflection on Following Jesus" (2012). The painting depicts the crucified Jesus in the middle wearing tallitot (praying shawl) as the loincloth and surrounded by various poignant scenes of atrocity: people fleeing directionless, houses burned down, wars, refugees and synagogue vandalization. The message is clear: the practice on antisemitism and the suffering of the Jews. It was the paintings I never saw before, every scene seems to be alive, real, and moving on its own. If you put the picture in your heart and mind, you'll begin perceiving people screaming, children cries, gun shot and Christ moaning. It's vicious yet full of wisdom. Turns out, it is the pope's favorite painting for reflection.

The Musée National Marc Chagall, Nice, France is in the walking distance from Nice central train station, but the terrain is challenging as you need to hike a little bit. It is more convenient to take the bus then walk for one or two minute. It is one-floor building with a huge garden outside; the garden looks so vast that the museum is almost invisible but the entrance and exit. After purchasing the ticket, I had a little difficulty in the (assisted) locker room. My belongings were too big to fit into the tiny locker, and they refused to give two spots. So if you come here, remember not to bring too much items (I have no choice, otherwise leaving the important stuffs in the hostel). As you enter the exhibition hall, take the audio guide with you. Even though the labels provide ample information, I found the audio guide was very well designed to help noticing many important and visibly hidden aspects in the painting. Moreover, because Chagall's paintings are complex, it is painstakingly inconvenient to go back and forth between the paintings and labels to grasp its meaning.

The arrangement was very traditional-like. The paintings were hung tall-and-high all over the wall. Pieces that needed to be analyzed in detail and thus, take longer time, were situated in intervals, so the traffic would not be affected when it was packed. Apart from the paintings were Chagall's famous work of stained window. It was quite unfortunate that the museum only housed one of his works, but the unique design, five-petal flower surrounded by three-petal flowers and leaves was pleasant enough to see.

The visitors could also see through the glass window the pool on which Chagall designed a mosaic depicting prophet Elijah taken up to the heaven, surrounded by the zodiacs. Mosaic artist, Lino Melano executed the design.

I believe I have no capacity to comment about the brilliant artworks. Also about the exhibition setting, I saw no special details for improvement, but rather in the conceptual level itself. However, I would rather analyze the expression of the visitors when diving themselves into the paintings (and that's what I did most of the time here!).

We know that Chagall's artworks are of Biblical narratives. As the earliest generation in modern arts, he took the long-existing religious paintings into the next level, to the style he develops, striping down the sacred symmetry during the Rennaissance then depicted the scenes in a disorder manner. This chaotic genius contains another way of experiencing God.

Here's a trick on how to experience the art fully: While standing before the painting with the audio guide on the ears, sweep your gaze across the painting, the painting alone. Let not your eyes tumble outside the frame. Now point your eyes to a character and let yourself being him or her, acting inside the scene. Then, look at another object or person, find the association, imagine you're talking to them, touching the items, build the the situation, is it hot or cold, is it dry or wet. Now close your eyes and let the awe and imagination drive your mind. Soon you'll see the painting starts moving in your head, it somehow comes alive. Let the emotions rush and unite with the Message. The longer you take your time, the deeper the connection with God will you feel. Let it be your religious ecstasy.

I witnessed this feeling myself and through the eyes of other visitors. Some were immersed so deeply as if in the out-of-body experience. Their gaze became empty, without movement and did not respond to their surroundings. After a while, they would come back and walk to another painting, repeating the same experience; one taught peace, one taught anger, one taught humble. The situation literally transforms the white-cube gallery into a worship house. It is no longer museum; it's transcendental; it's a you-and-god moment.