Under the High Patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, Opera Gallery presents Chagall and Léger at The Monaco Masters Show, a masters exhibition with a special focus on Marc Chagall (1887–1985) and Fernand Léger (1881–1955).
With 2025 marking the 40th anniversary of Chagall’s death and 70th anniversary of Léger’s death, this exhibition explores the parallel experiences and respective influences of both Chagall and Léger. From their crossover within the avant-garde scene in the Montparnasse neighbourhood of Paris in the early 20th century, to their overlapping exile to the United States during WWII, to eventually settling as residents in the South of France (Léger in Biot and Chagall in Vence and then Saint-Paul-de-Vence), the exhibition further explores how their time in France – where both artist’s formal artistic journeys began and ended – made an indelible influence on art history.
Notably, both Chagall and Léger used colour to underscore their distinctive approaches to modernism. Léger’s work frequently celebrated the technological developments of modern life through the use of bold, flat primary colours and a graphic, stylised approach – emphasising his fascination with industrialisation. With cubism as a point of departure, Léger’s early interpretations of the avant-garde movement became known as “Tubism”–characterised by mechanical, often cylindrical forms. In Nature morte aux trois papillons,1952, even Léger’s depiction of nature and organic forms takes on a technical quality – rendered in bold colours, framed by black contour lines. Alternatively, Chagall’s colour palette was more fantastical – with lyrical compositions evocative of dreams, nostalgia and the intangibility of emotion.
Colour
In Chagall’s Le Peintre, 1976, the composition is divided into four distinct quadrants of colour – red, yellow, green and blue. An artist is depicted in the foreground, surrounded by figures and imagery of a folkloric nature – two lovers, a cityscape of Paris, a rooster – that appear simultaneously weightless, symbolic and fleeting. Here, Chagall uses colour as an emotive tool in his depiction of an artist surrounded by visions and memories of people, places and things.
At the core, both Chagall and Léger’s work can be seen as a celebration of humanity’s enduring spirit, with Léger taking an idealistic view to the collective – framing the human figure as an intrinsic component of the modern, technological world. Conversely, Chagall’s work embraced tradition and symbolism, taking a more mystical lens to personal narratives in his paintings.
Chagall and Léger at The Monaco Masters Show explores the broad range of existential themes that Chagall and Léger were exploring that continue to resonate today. Additionally, the exhibition will feature a wider presentation of nearly thirty 20th and 21st century masterworks from artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fernando Botero, Alexander Calder, George Condo, Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Dubuffet, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Alex Katz, Yayoi Kusama, Roy Lichtenstein, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Pierre Soulages, Manolo Valdés, Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann.
For more than ten years, Opera Gallery in Monaco is proud to offer their continued support for the Mission Enfance Association, an organisation that works for children in distress in disadvantaged countries. A percentage of the sales from Chagall and Léger at The Monaco Masters Show will go towards supporting the association. Opera Gallery will also participate in the 9th edition of Art Monte-Carlo from 7th-9th July, presenting works by Karel Appel, Fernando Botero, Marc Chagall, Andy Denzler, Jean Dubuffet, Fernand Léger, Roy Lichtenstein, Pieter Obels, Pablo Picasso, Niki de Saint Phalle, Pierre Soulages and Manolo Valdés. (Grimaldi Forum Monaco, 10, Avenue Princesse Grace – Booth D7)
Chagall and Léger at The Monaco Masters Show
4th JULY – 31st AUGUST, 2025
MONACO
Mon-Sat:10am-7pm
Opera Gallery, Monaco
Palais de la Scala
1 Avenue Henri Dunant
98000 Monaco
monaco@operagallery.com
T +377 9797 5424
