Mark Zacharovich Shagal (nee Moshe Hazkelevich Segalov) was born in the borough Lioznovo (Liozno) near Vitebsk in Byelorussia on 24 June (6 July), 1887. The painter wrote in official documents: “My father since his childhood was a salesman at the herring storehouse”. Mark was the senior among nine children of the family. He took primary education at heder (Jewish primary school). His grandfather inculcated him love to religion and studying Torah.
     He studied graphic arts at the Vitebsk painter U.M.Pan’s art school in 1906, afterwards moved to Petersburg and during two seasons was studying at painters’ school of the Society of encouragement of arts headed by N.K.Rerih. In 1909 -1911 Shagal continued studies with L.S. Bukst at E.N.Zvanceva’s private art school. He lived very poorly, worked as retoucher, but painted very much day and night without a break. In Petersburg he painted his famous “The funeral” (With the deceased lying in a dark town street) and “The birth”. In the same place, at Petersburg, he found his first real admirer and well-known lawyer the Duma deputy Maksim Moisseevich Vinaver. He purchased two pictures from Shagal and gave him the modest grant to study in Paris. Later on Shagal named Vinaver his second father all his life.
      Using the received grant he went to Paris and continued studying, acquainted with painters and avant-garde poets living at French capital. Shagal fell in love with Paris at once and irretrievably considering it “the second Vitebsk”. He rented a studio in the famous refuge of Parisian Bohemia “La Rush” (“Hive”), where many young avant-garde painters, for the most part emigrants, lived and worked in those years: A.Modilyani, O.Zadkin, somewhat later – H.Sutin, and others. Shagal quickly entered into a circle of Parisian literature-painting avant-garde, and his works were exhibited at the Autumnal saloon and Independents’ Saloon in Paris, Berliner gallery “Der shturm” in 1911-13. Furthermore, Shagal took part in exhibitions of art unions in Russia (“Art world”, Saint-Petersburg, 1912; “Asinine tail”, Moscow, 1912; “Target”, Moscow, 1913, and others).
     First period of living in Paris (1910-14) played an important role in Shagal’s creative work: the painter came into contact with new art directions, some of them, cubism and futurism, influenced on him directly, and atmosphere of the art Paris of those years has influenced on him in still bigger degree. Exactly in these years and in the following “Russian period” the basic principles of Shagal’ art, going through his entire art work, have been composed, and constant symbolic types and personages have been determined. Shagal’s style of this time may be defined as cubism-futurism which was one of most important directions of Jewish vanguard in Russia. Sharp correlations of yellow, red, blue, green and violet colors constitute the base of Shagal’s color spectrum; they often combine with black sometimes constituting groundwork (“Paris through my window”, 1913,S.Guggenheim’s Museum, New-York; “Drinking soldier”, 1911, in the same place; “Amorous couple”, 1913, Pompidoo’s Center, Paris. The main themes of this period – a painter and art, on the one hand, and fantastic – real Jewish world, from the other hand (“Dedication to Apolliner”), 1911-12, Van Abbe’s Art museum Eindhoven; (“The burning house”), 1913, S.Guggenheim’s Museum, New-York.
     The Shagal’s first personal exhibition took place at “Der shturm” gallery by the instrumentality of G.Apolliner in 1914. After its opening Shagal went for Vitebsk to participate in his sister’s marriage. He meant to live there for three months but stayed for 10 years due to wars and revolution…On 25 July, 1915 the painter has married Bella Rosenfeld who was a daughter of a rich jeweler but waited for “a painter”. Bella has played the tremendous role in his life and creative work; and he himself considered her his muse. Shagal writes in his diary: “I finish no work till hear her “yes” or “no”. It was in unheated and dunk Malakhovka at eighth anniversary of their marriage. Later on their daughter Ida became the biographer and researcher of Shagal’s creative work. In September, 1915 Shagal left for Petersburg (renamed into Petrograd to that time), went to work for the Military-industrial committee and entered the Jewish society of encouragement of arts in 1916 and returned together with his family to Vitebsk in 1917. After the revolution the painter was appointed on duty of an authorized commissar of arts for Vitebsk province. At the beginning of 1919 he organized and placed himself at the head of Vitebsk people art school and invited I.Pen, M.Dobuzinsky, I.Puni, E.Lisizky, K.Malevich and other painters as teachers. In 1920 Shagal left for Moscow and, according to recommendation of A.M.Efros, settled down to work at Jewish chamber theatre. During these years Shagal mounted the performance “Sholom Aleihem’s evening” according his one-act plays “Agentn” (“Agents”), “Mazltov” (“Our congratulations”) and made some pictorial panels for a theatre lobby. In 1921 the painter worked as a teacher in Jewish labour school-colony “III international” for homeless urchins in Malahovka near Moscow. And he paints throughout day and night. Shagal took an active part in Jewish art life and was a member of the art section in Kultur-League in Moscow (Joint exhibition together with N.Alterman and D.Shterenberg, organized by the section, took place in Moscow in spring, 1922. Two Shagal personal exhibitions took place also (in the city of Petrograd, 1919 and in Moscow, 1921).
   “The Russian period” (1914-22) was time of generalization of accumulated experience. Shagal’s themes and style are diverse – from Vitebsk sketches and portraits of near relations to symbolic compositions (“A mother on the sofa”, 1914, private collection; “A lying poet”, 1915, Tait gallery, London; “Over town”, 1914-18, Tretyakov gallery, Moscow); from seeking in the region of spatial forms (“Cubist landscape”, 1918; “Collage”, 1921 – both Pompidoo Center, Paris) up to works where symbolism of colors plays the main role inside which influence of Jewish tradition and impression from works of ancient Russian art is felt (“Jew in red”, 1916, Tretyakov gallery, Moscow). Van-guard orientation was manifested extremely distinctly in graphics of those years (“Movement”, Indian ink, 1921, Pompidoo Center, Paris) and in works concerned with theatre: in panels (“Jewish theatre”, 1920, Tretyakov gallery, Moscow) the complex symbolism was elaborated including elements of Jewish tradition, ciphered comments to theatric events behind the scenes, Shagal’s declaration about the tasks of Jewish theatre, etc.
     In 1922 Shagal together with his family at first left for Lithuania (His exhibition was held in Kaunas) and then for Germany and in autumn, 1923 for Paris on invitation of Amraus Vollar.
     First years since return to Paris were the quietest in Shagal’s life and creative work. Here he made acquaintance of many avant-garde poets and painters – P.Eluar, A.Malro, M.Ernst, and also A.Vollar, patron of art and publisher who ordered him illustrations, including for Bible. Beginning working over Bible drawings, Shagal left for the Near East in 1931. Shagal visited Israel on invitation of M.Disengof; during this journey he was working hard and wrote considerable number of sketches for “Bible” landscapes. At the same time he has visited Egypt. Shagal maintained constant ties with Jewish literary men and national culture workers. In 1920-30 Shagal was traveling a lot in connection with his personal exhibitions (1922, Berlin; 1924, Brussels and Paris; 1926, New-York; 1930, Paris, Berlin, Keln, Amsterdam, Prague and others), and also studied classic art. His retrospective exhibition was opened in Basel in 1933. Shagal became a French citizen in 1937. At the beginning of the Second World War Shagal left Paris for the south of the country in connection with occupation of France.
    On invitation of the Modern Art Museum Shagal moved to New-York in 1941, and there were a lot of his personal and retrospective exhibitions in New-York, Chicago, Los-Angeles and other towns. His wife Bella passed away in 1944, and Shagal married on “Vava” – Valentine Brodskaya. The second marriage was happy, but only Bella remained muse and Shagal refused to tell about her as of the dead until his death. Shagal came back to France in 1948 and settled near Paris.
     Religious themes prevail over late Shagal’s creative work. 17 big canvases made in 1950-60 and inserted in the cycle “Bible imagery” were based rather on more early Shagal’s works (“Paradise”, “Abraham and three angels”, “The song of songs”, all of them – “Shagal’s Bible imagery” Museum, Nice). Expression and tragedy (Moses breaking testimonies”, Valraf-Riharz museum, Keln) are peculiar to Shagal’s late period painting concerned with Bible themes.
     In 1951 Shagal visited Israel in connection with opening his retrospective exhibition in the museum at the school Bezalel in Jerusalem, and was also in Tel-Aviv and Haifa. The following tours to Israel took place in 1957, 1962, 1969, 1977. Shagal made stain-glass windows “Twelve Israelite generations” for synagogue at medical centre “Hadassa” in Jerusalem (1960-62). The visit in 1969 was connected with opening of the new building of the Knesset for which Shagal designed decorative floors, carpets and wall paintings. (Shagal was given the rank of the honorary citizen of Jerusalem in 1977).
     For the first time after emigration, in 1973, Shagal visited Russia (Leningrad and Moscow) where, on the occasion of his arrival, the exhibition of his lithographs was opened as well as wall paintings executed in 1920 for the lobby of Jewish camera theatre and considered lost were extracted out of store-rooms and restored. Shagal confirmed authenticity of panels signing them.
     Since 1950 the Shagal’s works exhibitions, retrospective or dedicated to any theme or genre, took place at large-scale galleries and show-rooms of the world (1953, Turin and Vienna; 1955, Hannover; 1957, exhibitions of graphics – Basel, Paris; 1963, at some towns of Japan; 1969, 1970, 1977-78, 1984, Paris; 1984, Nice, Rome, Basel, and others). After the Shagal’s death also a lot of his exhibitions took place (1987, Moscow; 1989, Tokyo; 1991, Frankfort on the Main, Moscow; 1992-93, Saint-Petersburg, Florence, New-York, Chicago; 1993, Jerusalem, and others). Shagal’s works are exhibited at mayor world museums.
     Shagal was dead at Sen-Pol-de-Vans (the Seaside Alps, France) on 28th March, 1985. Shagal did not leave the school after him and was the only in his own way – the great Jewish painter uniting, as integral whole in his creative work, artistic language of the 20th century with attitude of hasid feeling sanctity of daily life and considering miracle as natural and obligatory part of life.

                                                                                                         According to Internet materials.