Marc Chagall visited Washington, DC, in 1968, the house of his friends and patrons Evelyn and John Nef. He undertook work to design a large-scale Garden Mosaic for them. remained until it was given to the National Gallery of Art by Evelyn (1913–2009). The colorful, layered narratives are loosely drawn from Greek mythology and from the artist's personal experience. "At the center, Orpheus charms animals with his lute, accompanied by the Three Graces and the winged stallion Pegasus. In the bottom left corner of the mosaic, a group of people waits to cross a large body of water." According to Chagall, this alludes not only to the general immigration of Europeans to America but also to his own experience. In the lower right corner, two lovers nestle in the greenery. Evelyn asked the artist if the figures depicted her and John; Chagall replied, "If you like."
The reason I am looking at Chagall's work is that he also often painted watercolor-like figures and I am drawn to his color selections, and besides his painting, he also used other mediums such as mosaics. I was thinking about placing some of my mosaic hearts into a garden in a similar way so that the figures can be close to their natural surrounding. I also aim to place them beside city architectural buildings. I am also thinking about how I could use stone and glass mosaics on a smaller scale shape and experiment with these materials.
Marc Chagall, Orphée, 1969, stone and glass mosaic, The John U. and Evelyn S. Nef Collection, 2011.60.104.1-10
Sculpture Garden Tour. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://www.nga.gov/visit/tours-and-guides/sculpture-garden.html