Chagall in Madrid

Detail of "The Blue Circus (1950)

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Yesterday, I visited Chagall's exhibition in La Fundacion Caja Madrid (the image has been borrowed from the brochure). The huge collection gathered for this occasion in Madrid consists of around 150 samples among painting, drawings and sculptures and has been divided between the Caja Madrid's art gallery and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. It can be visited till the 20th of May.
I went to the Thyssen Bornemisza Chagall's collection first. We needed to book and buy the tickets in advance but we didn´t find too much trouble because we went early, just few days after its opening in February this year. It was nice and thought-provoking. I knew a bit more about this Russian painter, Chagall, who lived a hectic life through two world wars, one revolution, the exile in USA and dying in France, his adoptive country, at the age of 98.  But I felt a bit disappointed. The collection was broad. It covered the life of the artist till 1947 when he returned from USA to France. It included a mosaic of colors and styles (cubism, supernatural) but I could find few samples of the characteristic paintings that come to my head when thinking about Chagall. I remembered the upside-down brides in an eternal embrace with their grooms, goats playing the violin, flying hens...Where were these pieces? Yesterday I finally found them in La Fundacion Caja Madrid building in San Martin square. This is the place reserved to the temporary collections that the local bank Foundation and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum share with each other.
The first piece of art is the building. It is called the "Casa de las Alhajas" and was the headquarters of the ancient savings bank "El Monte de Piedad" at the beginning of 20th century. It consists of a covered central courtyard surrounded by 4 floors of iron-cast corridors.
This time we had to queue for some minutes to get into the museum partly because the entrance is free of charge and partly for the word of mouth and positive feedback. Anyhow, it was early enough in a Saturday morning and the line was not too long yet (the best of the scenarios in the rainy morning).
Coming back to the subject, all the Chagall pictures I remembered, were here, with their brides and goats and violins and hens; in red, in blue or black; with side villages haunted by magical worlds. Amazing and beautiful, albeit disquieting and disturbing. A painting style that is inseparable of its author, Chagall, a painter that made history.
By the way, "Red Rooftops" is my favorite painting of the collection.

Red Rooftops (1953)

Take a moment to observe the people´s lives and Paris and the Seine at the back of the picture.