In May 1963, the Paris weekly Lettre Francaise published a speech by Marc Chagall, delivered in the United States in a close circle of compatriots: "All my life I loved to listen to others and, as far as I could, learn from them. If I had been more intelligent, I would have remained with my painting, undisturbed by anything, and engaged in the work that is the main goal of my life and which, I dare say, I do not do for myself alone."

The artist talked about the power of the human spirit and the leading role of spirituality in all spheres of life. Ideas born only from the head, bypassing the soul, are untenable and short-lived: "What can be more touching in our era, in our human community, on our planet Earth-than the desire and willingness to listen to the human soul and hear in it the movement of the world, with all its sighs and dreams?"

The speaker referred to examples of the works of ancient epochs. It was in them that he found the already established concept of the human world. According to M. Chagall, the centuries that followed the classical period and the Renaissance are not able to elevate a person and enrich his spiritual world, and thus give strength for creativity and daily existence.

Discussing the meaning of being, the artist, without falling into contradiction, claimed, on the one hand, that he deeply believes "in the sublimity of human nature itself", on the other, he is convinced that human fate is subject to the intervention of cosmic influences. This is how the speaker approached the concepts of fate and fate. They are of interest to art only because at the center of the artist's being and awareness of it is the human being.

The author complained about the time and people who began to treat such concepts as "God, perspective, color, the Bible, form, line, tradition, all kinds of humanism, love, loyalty, family, school, upbringing, prophets, and at the same time Christ" differently. the World rests on these concepts and therefore does not collapse.

As is well known, the main virtues established in classical times were intelligence, justice, courage, and integrity.

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mudriye. Christian teaching has supplemented this classification with three more concepts: faith-hope-love. Let us try to find them in the reflections of M. Chagall. "Perspective" and "faithfulness" are associated with "faith", "tradition" - with "hope". "Love" is at the center of the thesis. "Family"," school "and" upbringing "in M. Chagall, in our opinion, include the classical concept of "understanding". "God", "prophets" and "Christ" are identified with the concepts of "justice", "courage" and "chastity".

Thus, we observe the complete consonance of M. Chagall's concept of the meaning of being with the classical and Christian traditions.

In the speaker's thesis there is also "every kind of humanism", which means the protection of all the dignity of the individual. Among other concepts, the artist named the categories of painting - "paint", "form", "line", since his professional activity is inseparable from the existence of things. M. Chagall admitted that "I thought a lot about the paint that is called love". He considered another concept - "The Bible". This is both a work of art and a book that "contains the highest ideal of human existence on the Planet Earth." A person's life experience builds its own system of value categories.

About his worldview, the artist said: "I painted wonderful pictures, cut off the characters' heads or cut them into pieces or hung them in the air like gallows men. I did this in the name of a new perspective, in the name of finding new constructions and previously unknown states...

Thus, the universe gradually turned into a small world in which we, little people, turn and cling to the smallest elements of our nature, in which we have already reached the atom."

The speaker called "atomic" discoveries the verisimilitude of scientific achievements, "a boundary line that cuts us off from the source of food, the source of poetry."

Science is valued for its achievements, and natural and spiritual life is incomparably more significant.

Chagall deliberately avoided questions concerning practical life and practical morality while singing about spirituality. He called human nature - physical and spiritual - chemistry, thereby contrasting natural chemistry with chemistry extracted in scientific laboratories. "What I call a kind of chemistry is hidden in us. It is in our hands, in our soul!"

Reflections on the biblical theme in painting lead the speaker to explore the reasons for the weakening of religious feelings of the time. Art that bypasses biblical motifs is historically short-lived.

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The author was characterized by a subtle aphoristic thinking: "Without love, our world - step by step - will come to an end"; " If people read the prophets more carefully, they could find answers to the most diverse questions of existence there."

The speech text is filled with detailed metaphors and metaphorical comparisons. Marc Chagall spoke about the spiritual accumulations of the XVIII-XIX centuries and called them a reservoir that protected people and gave them the meaning and content of life. In the 20th century, a crack appeared in this energy reservoir.

The author's irony is expressed in antitheses with the use of evaluative vocabulary: the universe is a small world; humanity is small people.

Another stylistic feature of M. Chagall's speech is the skillful use of synonyms in speech: "... in general, the overall picture of the world seems to have crumpled, shrunk...". One synonym refers to a neutral style, the other to a colloquial one marked by a negative connotation. Choosing the second expressive verb, the author wanted to strengthen the impression of spiritual impoverishment of society.

Among the stylistic signs, we also find a figurative transformation of the idiom: "Speaking of this, I'm not in mourning, I'm not a pessimist." The well-known phrase to go to the extreme with negative semantics is transformed into the idiom not to go into mourning with a clear meaning of elation.

The final thesis of the speech requires special attention of the reader-listener: "I feel light in my heart when I see and believe that you, gathered here, are concerned about the same problems. I am happy to hope that my call will not remain a cry in the desert."

In the text, M. Chagall also boldly and successfully created, as well as on canvas, personified objects, drew people on clouds, created paintings with unprecedented subjects that encourage deep thoughts.

Astrakhan

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