Milwaukee art lovers can view Marc Chagall sketches, which bring Nikolai Gogol’s satirical novel “Dead Souls” to life, starting in June at Jewish Museum Milwaukee.
The 96 black-and-white, etchings by the renowned Jewish artist will be featured during a preview celebration on June 6 at 7 p.m. at the museum. The two-hour event will also explore Christine Wenc’s forthcoming book, “Funny Because It’s True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire,” along with light appetizers, dessert and wine. The exhibit, “Chagall’s Dead Souls: A Satirical Account of Imperialist Russia,” is scheduled to run June 7 through Sept. 8, featuring the rare prints.
“This is an exhibit that is going to appeal to art enthusiasts, history enthusiasts and political enthusiasts,” said Molly Dubin, chief curator at Jewish Museum Milwaukee. “It’s an opportunity to explore contemporary parallels with everything we’re experiencing in the news.”
Gogol, a 19th–century Ukrainian Russian writer, is considered the father of the Golden Age of Russian prose and was a pioneer of satire in 19th–century imperialist Russia. His 1842 novel “Dead Souls” is considered a masterpiece.
“Gogol is commenting on the inequities of the time … when Tsar Nicholas I came into power and clamped down on dissent following the Decemberist revolt,” she said.
Decades later, it made such an impression on Chagall that the artist created dozens of sketches illustrating the tragedy and humor of the characters in the novel.
Gogol “has this very fantastical way of writing and Chagall has this very whimsical way of approaching subjects. His drawings are often very surreal…pulled out of his imagination,” Dubin said. “That pairing is one of the reasons I think it’s so inspiring. These are very whimsical caricature illustrations that provide a greater depth to understanding and really capturing the essence of the landowners and the peasants.”
The ink etchings on paper touch on many of the themes that run throughout Gogol’s piece about Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, the main character who is a scoundrel up to no good.
“They are all black and white. They are rendered so simplistically and while they seem so simple, there are so many layers,” she said.
The frontispiece shows Gogol and Chagall back-to-back facing opposite directions.
“It so wonderfully illustrates this idea that (while) they didn’t live during the same time, they seem to be connected on a creative front in many ways,” Dubin said. They’re both looking in different directions, but they’re connected. I just think that’s such an apt rendering in terms of all that this exhibit is going to explore.”
“Dead Souls” is a critical commentary of great social and political change in Russia at the time. It might be viewed as a reflection of what Russia is today, after its invasion of Ukraine and as Vladimir Putin rules with an iron fist.
“Being able to look at it through the lens of this novel and contextualize where Ukraine and Russia have been and where they are now is a great opportunity,” she said.
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