Messages of tolerance: Art of Marc Chagall focus of NSCC forum

North Shore Community College celebrated the anniversary of its 30 Forum on Tolerance with cake, artwork and the wisdom of painter, illustrator, sculptor and poet Marc Chagall as told by his friend Vivian R. Jacobson.”One of the things he wanted to have more than anything else was peace,” Jacobson said.Born in 1887 in Vitebsk, Belarus, Chagall was raised Jewish and he had a lot of reasons to be angry, Jacobson noted. He survived two world wars and escaped an occupied France in 1941 one day before Germany invaded the Soviet Union, but through it all, Jacobson said, Chagall had hope.”He had reason to hate but he channeled his energy into magnificent artworks,” she said.And those works of art largely represented what Chagall held most dear, the concepts of hope, peace, reconciliation and love, which translates into tolerance, Jacobson said.Jacobson worked for Chagall for 11 years as his American representative and wrote about her experiences in the book, “Sharing Chagall; A Memoir.”Monday she took a crowd of nearly 200 inside some of Chagall’s most noted pieces, often sharing the artist’s own words to show his connection to the concept of tolerance.From the murals outside New York’s Lincoln Center, to the ceiling of a Paris opera house and the walls of the Chicago Art Institute, Jacobson showed, via a larger than life slide show, that Chagall’s work depicts an aura of hope, of bringing people together, joining faiths and moving forward as one.His message of peace is most notably seen in the Peace Windows he designed for the United Nations in 1964. Jacobson quoted Chagall stating that he wanted to convey the inspiration he derived “from all those he died for peace,” in particular, Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN’s second secretary general who died in 1961 in a plane crash. The 15-foot by 12-foot stained glass window contains symbols of peace, love and music, which Chagall also believed could draw people together.His painting, The White Crucifixion, is perhaps his greatest portrait on tolerance. A depiction of Christ on the cross anchors the center of the painting with images of Jews fleeing Germany, Torahs in flames, people escaping burning homes and a lit menorah scattered in the background.”Marc Chagall was so tolerant of people that this was not a Jewish Jesus, it was not a Christian Jesus. It was one representing the suffering of all of humanity and all mankind,” Jacobson said.Love was apparent in paintings and poems Chagall created about his parents and his hometown. Reconciliation came when he demanded that German officials reconcile with France as well as with the Jewish community before he would agree to create a stained glass window for Germany’s St. Stephen’s church.Despite the troubles of the world, Jacobson said Chagall continued to create right up until his death in 1985 largely because he believed that “in art as in love everything is possible as long as it’s based on love.”Professor Sheldon Brown, who serves on the forum’s leadership team, said the forums began 19 years ago in the library, moved to room T102 under the rumbling of the commuter rail and now regularly fill the auditorium. The goal of the events, according to Vice President of Academics Paul Frydrych, is to educate, learn to understand each other by sharing and to open dialogue.Brown admitted he was particularly thrilled to be able to hear and see the works of Chagall on the 30th anniversary.”I was brought up on mother’s milk and Chagall,” he said.Jacobson, who travels the world lecturing on Chagall, said she was particularly honored to be invited to speak to a community college, and she urged students in the audience not to “be afraid and back away” from opportunity but to seize it and go forward.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].