In visiting the Museum of Modern Art, I came across a variety of different sculptures, images, and other pieces of art. Many of these pieces of art had qualities of modernist art,. One in particular that struck me most was Mark Chagall’s “I and the Village”. This work, titled “I and the Village” was done by Mark Chagall in 1911. Mark Chagall was an early modernist. He was associated with many different artistic formats, including painting, and ceramics along with many others. Chagall was looked at as “the last survivor of the first generation of European Modernists” (Wikipedia). Some of his greatest accomplishments include producing windows for the UN, and the Jerusalem Windows in Israel. Now that we have discussed briefly Chagall’s life and accomplishments let us get to this piece, “I and the Village. This art embodies Modernism in many different ways. The first aspect of it that fits the title as modernist is its rejection of the idea of narrative. The painting has a unicorn, a sheep, people, among other things, all of these different things resemble a void of narrative. Many times when we look at art, we see or notice one thing in particular. The unique aspect about this work of art is that it is void of narrative and allows the person looking at the piece of art to analyze it any way they see fit. The next aspect of modernism that this painting has is that this painting embraces uncertainty. To go along with the previous point of a void of narrative, this painting embraces uncertainty by not giving a certain direction to the painting. Is this a painting about animals, is it a painting about people, is it both, these are the questions that we are left with when looking at this painting. Another aspect that this painting has of modernism is that it flaunts difficulty. This painting is hard to examine due to its multi facetiousness. The last aspect of this painting that resembles Modernist Art is that it shines a spotlight on a certain feeling. Through the paintings bright colors, it exudes a positive and happy feeling when looking at it. It gives somewhat of a feeling that one feels when looking at a rainbow. In closing, due to the uncertainty exude by this painting, as well as its bright colors, among other things, it makes this painting a clear example of Modernist Art.
