Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Marc-Chagall Museum, also called the Marc-Chagall National Museum of Biblical Message, was created on the initiative of the artist himself, with the support of the Minister of Culture André Malraux. Inaugurated in 1973 in Nice, it was designed to house the seventeen canvases of the Biblical Message, a series painted between 1962 and 1967 illustrating Genesis, Exodus and Song of Songs. These works, offered to the French State in 1966, constituted the initial core of the collections, supplemented by preparatory sketches, stained glass and sculptures given by Chagall in 1972.

Originally focused on the biblical theme, the museum has gradually evolved into a monographic space dedicated to the religious and spiritual work of Chagall. In 1986, a diation acquired the complete suite of sketches and gouaches for the Exodus, as well as ten other paintings, including the triptych Resistance, Resurrection, Liberation. The sober and white architecture of the building, signed André Hermant, integrates into a Mediterranean garden created by Henri Fisch, offering a setting adapted to the contemplation of works.

The current collections are among the richest collections of Chagall's works, including oils on canvas such as The Holy Family (1909), The Exodus (1952-1966) or The Arch of Noah (1961-1966). The museum also organizes temporary exhibitions, like those dedicated to Denis Castellas (2014) or Makiko Furuichi (2023), while preserving its identity linked to Chagall's biblical and artistic heritage.

The museum project is part of a broader cultural dynamic, marked by collaboration between the artist, the state and figures like André Malraux. The successive donations of Chagall and his wife Valentina (1967)-1972, as well as the 1987 declaration, enriched the collections, making this place a unique testimony to the artistic creation of the twentieth century, anchored in the landscape of Nice and the Mediterranean.

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