Russian Art
Chagall, M. Z.
"Mirror, Detail". 1915
Notes: Detail from "The Mirror".
This detail shows the small sleeping figured dwarfed by the great gold mirror.
This important early canvas by Chagall reflects his idiosyncratic combination of Cubist spatial dynamics with themes from his own life. In "The Mirror," the oil lamp, seen in a mirror that has become a window, animates the painting through the painter's odd potion of angled forms and surprises of scale. The mirror and lamp rush out to the viewer, reducing the significance of the small sleeping figure. The painting's modulated colors, magical sense of scale, and dream-like forms are an early testament to the highly personal nature of Chagall's art.
