The Dreamlike World of Marc Chagall

In the vast and colorful universe of 20th-century art, few artists managed to capture emotion, memory, and fantasy with as much poetic elegance as Marc Chagall. Among his many celebrated works, one painting in particular continues to enchant viewers with its surreal beauty and tender intimacy: “Over the Town” (1918). This iconic piece, which shows two lovers flying high above a quaint village, is not just a depiction of romance, it’s a visual poem that combines personal memory, cultural symbolism, and artistic innovation.

But what exactly is this painting all about? Who are these floating figures, and what is the story behind their flight? Why did Chagall paint it, and what deeper meanings lie beneath its vivid surface? Let’s embark on a detailed exploration of “Over the Town”, uncovering the rich layers of symbolism, context, and emotional resonance that make it a masterpiece of modern art.

What is “Over the Town”?

“Over the Town” is an oil painting on canvas, created by Marc Chagall in 1918. The painting depicts two figures, a man and a woman, soaring above a Russian village. The man’s outstretched arm seems to guide their flight, while the woman reclines joyfully in the air beside him. Below them, a cluster of houses with pitched roofs represents a typical Eastern European shtetl, a small Jewish town or village. The sky is pale blue, the town quiet, and the couple appears to hover in a private world of love and imagination.

Despite its simple composition, the painting evokes deep emotional and psychological layers. It is at once whimsical and profound, a dreamscape that feels rooted in both nostalgia and fantasy.

Who Painted It, and Why?

Marc Chagall (1887–1985) was a Russian-French-Jewish artist born in Vitebsk, Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire. He was raised in a Hasidic Jewish family and his art frequently reflects the rich traditions, folklore, and spirituality of Eastern European Jewish life. Chagall studied art in Saint Petersburg before moving to Paris in 1910, where he absorbed the influences of Cubism, Fauvism, and Symbolism.

“Over the Town” was painted shortly after Chagall returned to Vitebsk following the Russian Revolution. He had married his beloved Bella Rosenfeld in 1915, and the joy of their union infuses much of his work from this period. In fact, the two figures in the painting are widely recognized as Chagall and Bella themselves, shown soaring above the town that shaped Chagall’s childhood and artistic vision.

The Love Story in Paint

“Over the Town” is more than just a love story, it is a love made metaphysical. Chagall and Bella aren’t merely walking or embracing; they are flying. This flight becomes a visual metaphor for the transcendence of love. In Chagall’s universe, love lifts the soul, defies gravity, and makes the impossible feel natural. Bella was not only his wife but his lifelong muse, and their bond became a central theme in much of his art.

In his memoir My Life, Chagall wrote:

“Only love interests me, and I am only in contact with things that revolve around love.”

This passionate philosophy can be seen clearly in “Over the Town.” The couple floats with ease, untethered to the world below, yet still hovering over the rooftops of Vitebsk, as if memory, tradition, and identity remain vital, even as love allows them to transcend their environment.

What’s Happening in the Painting?

At first glance, the painting seems to present a surreal, almost magical event: a man and woman flying over a village. There’s no suggestion of wings, no mechanical aid to their flight. They are simply floating, dreamlike, buoyed by emotion rather than physics.

But upon closer inspection, the work is deeply rooted in reality and autobiography. The town below is Vitebsk, Chagall’s hometown, painted in the geometric, stylized forms typical of his early works. The rooftops and streets are rendered with affection and familiarity, suggesting that this is not a fantasy land, but a very real place seen through the eyes of love.

The central couple commands the viewer’s attention. The man, clearly modeled after Chagall himself, appears almost in a celebratory gesture, his free hand stretched forward, perhaps guiding them into the future. Bella, smiling with closed eyes, holds her body with relaxed grace, clearly safe in her partner’s embrace. This is a moment suspended in time, where gravity gives way to the soul’s lightness.

Symbolism and Interpretation

1. Love as Liberation

At the heart of the painting lies the theme of love as a liberating force. The couple’s flight over the town symbolizes the way love elevates and transforms. In the context of 1918, this idea took on even more profound meaning: the world was emerging from World War I, and Russia was in the midst of revolutionary upheaval. Amid political chaos and personal uncertainty, love remains a refuge, a means of escaping the darkness below.

2. Memory and Home

The town below is not abstract or invented, it is Vitebsk, the artist’s beloved birthplace. Even while floating above it, the couple remains connected to it. This suggests a deep emotional duality in Chagall’s work: the tension between flight and rootedness, between escape and attachment. No matter how high love lifts them, they are still tied, visually and emotionally, to their cultural and familial origins.

3. Surrealism Before Surrealism

Though Chagall never formally joined the Surrealist movement, “Over the Town” shares its key characteristics: dream logic, visual metaphor, and a disregard for physical laws. Yet, unlike the sometimes cold or impersonal quality of later Surrealist art, Chagall’s vision is warm, romantic, and personal. His dreams are those of a man in love, not a theorist exploring the unconscious.

4. Jewish Cultural Identity

Chagall often referred to his work as “not the dream of one people but of all humanity.” Still, “Over the Town” brims with references to his Jewish heritage. The shtetl below is not generic, it’s a Jewish town, marked by the distinctive architecture and layout of Eastern European Jewish communities. By including these details, Chagall places Jewish identity at the heart of his visual language, suggesting that love and cultural memory are deeply intertwined.

What Type of Art is It?

“Over the Town” fits into several overlapping art movements, making it a unique and hybrid creation.

• Expressionism: The emotional intensity and distortion of space align with the Expressionist movement, which aimed to portray inner feelings rather than external reality.

• Symbolism: The imagery in the painting is metaphorical, meant to express abstract ideas, particularly love, memory, and transcendence.

• Surrealism (proto-surrealism): Although painted before Surrealism officially began in the 1920s, the dreamlike quality and irrational spatial relationships make Chagall a forerunner of the movement.

• Modernism: Chagall’s use of flat perspective, bold color, and stylized forms places him firmly within the broader umbrella of modern art.

Chagall’s art defies strict categorization because it is always personal before ideological. Rather than align strictly with a school of thought, he used elements from many styles to construct a visual language uniquely his own.

How Was It Painted?

Chagall used oil on canvas to create “Over the Town.” His technique at the time reflected his training in Paris and his exposure to French avant-garde circles, especially Fauvism and Cubism, though he softened these movements’ harsher edges. His color palette in this piece is relatively muted compared to some of his later work, focusing on gentle blues, greens, and earthy reds. The composition is balanced despite its asymmetry, the couple dominates the right side of the canvas, while the village grounds the left, creating a dynamic tension between air and earth.

Chagall was not interested in precise anatomical rendering or linear perspective. Instead, he focused on emotional truth, the way a moment feels rather than how it looks. This approach gives “Over the Town” its timeless, dreamlike quality.

Where is Over the Town Painting Now?

Today, “Over the Town” resides in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia, one of the world’s leading museums of Russian art. It is considered one of Chagall’s major early masterpieces and is regularly studied, exhibited, and referenced in discussions of 20th-century art.

Legacy and Influence

“Over the Town” remains one of the most iconic representations of romantic love in art history. It has inspired countless homages in literature, cinema, illustration, and even ballet. Chagall’s floating lovers appear repeatedly in his oeuvre, becoming symbolic of the emotional and imaginative freedom he strove for in both art and life.

At a time when the world was grappling with war, revolution, and social change, Chagall painted something profoundly human and eternal: a man and a woman, united in love, rising above the turmoil. In doing so, he offered not escape from reality, but a vision of how love, memory, and imagination can transform and elevate the human experience.

Marc Chagall’s “Over the Town” is more than a painting, it is an expression of love’s capacity to lift us above the ordinary, to help us transcend time, place, and even tragedy. It invites us to consider how our personal histories, cultural identities, and emotional lives interweave into something magical and transformative.

The next time you look at it, notice how Chagall doesn’t just paint two people in love, he paints what love feels like: weightless, joyful, defiant of gravity and the world’s sorrows. In doing so, he offers all of us a moment of flight.