The Bible has been illustrated throughout the years in many different forms, and modern artist Marc Chagall added his own artistic take through lithographs and etchings on display in the Tarble Arts Center.

The exhibit, called “Chagall and the Bible,” is on display in the Tarble Brainard Gallary until March 15 and is free for the public to view.

His artwork displayed in the museum includes color lithographs and black and white etchings of scenes from the Bible.

Michael Watts, the interim Tarble director, said Chagall is one of the most distinctive artists of the 20th century.

“He is best known for his colorful paintings, many of which are based on east European Jewish folklore,” Watts said.

Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Belarus and into traditional Hasidic Jewish culture, and as a Jewish artist he broke new ground by illustrating the Hebrew Bible.

His depiction of the Old Testament combined both his Jewish history and modern art.

Chagall has been quoted saying the Bible has fascinated him since his early youth.

“It has always seemed to me and it seems to me still that it is the greatest source of poetry of all time,” Chagall has said, according to a Tarble press release.

Watts said this exhibit was a large project for Chagall, having taken 25 years to be completed.  The main bulk of the exhibit consists of his color lithographs that were published in Paris in 1956 and 1960.

These editions were special to the collection and were devoted to Chagall’s original Bible lithographs.

Watts said the exhibit also has a selection of 10 out of the 105 etchings from Chagall’s 1932 to 1939 collection.

The rest of the exhibit is a Chagall self-portrait and a few other works related to the Bible, which include depictions of the crucifixion.

“Although of the Jewish faith, Chagall used the crucifixion in many of his works,” Watts said.  “Some believe the artist saw in the crucifixion an affinity with Jewish suffering.”

Watts said he decided to put Chagall’s work on display for many reasons.

“Marc Chagall is a seminal modern artist, plus the exhibition fit into the Tarble’s schedule and was affordable,” he said. “Besides being art by Chagall, I also thought the Biblical subject matter would have wide appeal, and we hadn’t presented an exhibition that included Biblical subjects for awhile.”

Clay Dean, the CEO of First Mid Illinois Insurance Group in Mattoon, donated one of Chagall’s lithographs to Tarble in honor of President Bill Perry and his wife, Linda Perry.  Watts said Chagall is one of Perry’s favorite artists.

The piece is called “Moses with the Tablets of Law” but is sometimes called “Moses III.”

Except for the lithograph Dean donated, the Chagall pieces in the exhibit are on loan from the Bowden Collections.

Stephanie White can be reached at 581-2812 or at sewhite2@eiu.edu.