Chagall's Four Seasons

Crafted from numerous embedded chips spanning over 250 hues, Marc Chagall’s mosaic masterpiece, The Four Seasons, captures six scenes of Chicago. This work showcases a rich tapestry of images drawn from the artist’s Russian-Jewish heritage and mirrored in his Surrealist paintings, featuring elements like birds, fish, flowers, suns, and entwined lovers. Chagall asserted that “the seasons represent human life, both physical and spiritual, at its different ages.” The mosaic’s design originated in Chagall’s French studio, transferred onto full-scale panels, and was meticulously installed in Chicago with the expertise of a skilled mosaicist.

Even after its arrival in Chicago, Chagall continued refining the design, updating sections depicting the city’s skyline (last observed by the artist 30 years prior to installation) and incorporating fragments of native Chicago brick.