On Marc Chagall's WHITE CRICIFIXION painting

chagall-white_crucifixion
Originally uploaded by flamelily

Described as one of the most shocking paintings both because of the theme painted by a Jewish artist and the time it was painted (1938).

He was living in Paris at the time and could see no way out. He includes lots of contemporary invocations of what has been going on at the time to Jews in Germany.

The question is how does on depict suffering in art in a way that would touch people?

Part of the story of this painting is that the images flying off the edge are suffering as the result of the figure in the middle -Christ. All over there are outstretched arms, not just Jesus but also other figures indicating sense of helplessness. Yet, the Jacobs Ladder is there as a symbol of hope and humanism as is a Jew with a Torah.

How wonderful to stumble on such a great piece of art unexpectedly in a TV slot on Faith.

And for those who like this painting so much that they wish to have it on their iPhone or as a computer wallpaper, just follow instructions.

To Twitter or not to Twitter

I have been following and contributing increasingly to twitter in the last couple of weeks. The question is why?

Partly because it makes me feel I am involved with the lives of lots of different people though I am physically sitting at one of my desks at home! It certainly is in part helping me make new and unexpected contacts and I like that.

Another reason for using Twitter is that some of those that I follow are people I respect so it kind of indicates there must be something in it. People as diverse as Jay Rosen, Guy Kawasaki, David Gurteen, Stacey Monks,and another 160 or so.

I will review this effort in a week and see where it goes.

In the meantime, please start following me.