《撐陽傘的母牛》

愛藝

In 1944， a tragedy struck the Chagall. Chagalls wife—Bella Chagall died of a viral infection. The couple had loved each other strongly from the moment they first met， and had lived happily together as husband and wife for 29 years. For Chagall， this was a heavy blow. More than just the object of his affection， Bella had been his muse and his kindred soul， with the same ironic， light-hearted approach to life， which can be read easily from the texts of her works （Bella was a writer， though she was never published during her lifetime）.

For the first time since childhood， Chagall set aside his brush and easel. He would be unable to paint for many long months， almost an entire year.

In 1946， Chagall ventured back into Europe， where his career had begun. Over there the painter met Virginia Haggard McNeill， with whom he had an affair. This revived his desire to paint and imbued his brush with a fresh vivacity， visible in his work Cow with Parasol （oil on canvas， 77.5 cm × 106 cm， 1946）.

This poetic picture is a wonderful illustration of Chagalls fertile fantasy and mastery of colouristic techniques. The subject is absurd—a cow walking over the roofs of the village， holding a parasol. The warmth of the sun is conveyed in a glowing orange tone. The artist has adopted the classic stylistic device of substitution， replacing man with an animal： it is a device that is characteristic of Chagalls art， and is used in exemplary fashion in this painting， where it contributes a great deal to the anecdotal charm that is at the core of the pictures irony. Nonetheless， sombre colours still dominate the painting， and its humoresque qualities seem to be a compulsive insistence on cheerfulness.

In My Life， Marc Chagall said：

But perhaps my art is the art of a lunatic， ... mere glittering quicksilver， a blue soul breaking in upon my picture.

The original painting is held in a private collection.

1944年，一場悲劇降臨夏加爾家。夏加爾的妻子貝拉·夏加爾因病毒感染而亡故。他們二人當年一見鐘情，自此便深愛著對方，并一起度過了29年幸福的婚姻生活。對夏加爾來說，這是一個沉重的打擊。貝拉不僅是他的愛人，還是他的繆斯女神，與他心靈相通，他們對生活抱著同樣嘲諷而輕松的態度，這可以從貝拉的文字中清楚地看出來（貝拉寫了不少東西，但她生前從未發表過）。

從小到大第一次，夏加爾放下了畫筆和畫架。很長一段日子，將近一整年的時間，他都無法作畫。

1946年，夏加爾再闖歐洲——他的職業生涯開啟之地。重回歐洲，夏加爾遇到了弗吉尼亞·哈格德·麥克尼爾，兩人傳出了一段風流韻事。這讓他重新燃起創作的欲望，給他的畫筆注入了新鮮活力，《撐陽傘的母牛》（布面油畫，77.5厘米×106厘米，1946年）一畫就清楚呈現出這一點。

這幅畫充滿詩意，極好展示了夏加爾豐富的想象和嫻熟的用色。該畫主題有些荒謬——一頭奶牛持著一把陽傘，行走在村子屋頂的上方。明亮的橙色調傳遞出太陽的溫暖。畫家采用了經典風格的替代手法，用動物替代人：這種手法是夏加爾的藝術創作特征，在此畫中的運用堪稱典范，大大增添了奇聞軼事的魅力，而這種魅力正是該畫諷刺的核心。盡管如此，這幅畫仍以暗色為主，畫面呈現的詼諧幽默似乎是一種強顏歡笑。

在《我的生活》一書中，馬克·夏加爾寫道：

但也許，我的藝術就是一個瘋子的藝術……只是閃閃發光的水銀，像一個憂傷的靈魂闖入我的圖畫。

原畫現為私人收藏。