Mark Chagall and Bella (Berta) got acquainted at the
end of summer, 1909. In those days Bella had just returned from abroad.
She was in Vienna and Berlin and came to her girl-friend Teja Brachman
to share her impression. The parents of Teja and Bella were friendsaswell
and Bella often dropped in to Teja.eja’s family was well-to-do, the piano
and violin often sounded in their home, theatre plays were staged there.
Viktor Mekler, an artist and Chagall’s friend, may have introduced Marc
to Teja. They got acquaintanted in St. Petersburg when Teja studied there.
Teja posed to MarcChagall as it wastoo expensivefor him to hire a model.
So Marc and Bella met in the house of Teja Brachman.
Later Bella Rosenfeld (Chagall) wrote in her memoirs, (I was surprised
at his eyes, they were so blue as the sky. His eyes were unusual, not such
as somebody's else- oblong, like almonds. I have never seen such eyes before
except in illustrations to tales about
beasts. His mouth was opened a little - may be, he wanted to say something,
may be, to bite with his sharp, white teeth. All his
movements were as movements of a lurk beast). (What is he thinking
about? I see a deep wrinkle cutting through his forehead. He is moving
to me nearer. I'm lowering my eyes. Nobody is saying anything. We both
feel our hearts beating.) (The face of this boy lives inside me as my second
ego, his voice is in my ears. I met artists before but nobody had such
appearance as he.)
The second meeting was at the bridge. Marc, Teja and her
dog went for a walk and met Bella. (He is speaking to me as if he meets
me every day. He isn't frightful at all. He has calm, self-restrained voice.
His curly hair is showing from under his hat. We are walking together,
he isn't as frightful as I thought but he is strong as a peasant as if
he takes his force from a steel river). They began to meet and often walked
along the bank of the Dvina-river. (I was so calm before. I lived in the
peace of our house, read books, avoided people as evil ghosts. But one
time a young man has come and broken the calmness of my days).
Bella Rosenfeld was born on the 15th
of December, 1895 in Vitebsk. Her father was a merchant. She was the youngest
in the family. She studied in a gymnasium and got an award for her academic
achievements every year. Then she continued her education in one of
the famous Moscow school for girls where she studied history, philosophy
and literature. Later she studied the art of acting in the studio of Stanislavsky.
Her parents had three jeweler's shops in Vitebsk.
I painted, painted and in one rainy evening
I became a hero of a traditional wedding ceremony under the wedding canopy
exactly as it was in my pictures. I got benediction - all was done
according to the traditions despite my objections.) The wedding was on
the 25th of July, 1915. From the first days of their marriage Marc
Chagall always took into consideration his to his wife's opinion. (I
didn't finished any picture or engraving without her (Yes) or (No),
wrote Chagall. A lot of Chagall's pictures are devoted to Bella: (A
Walk), (Over the Town), (The Wedding), (Green Lovers), (Blue
Lovers), (Bella with Black Gloves), (Bella with a Violoncello),
(Bella with a Shawl) and others.(more).
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