From 1911 to 1914 Mark Chagall lived in Paris, having arrived there with his teacher Lev Bakst and plunged into the French artistic life. His works of that time show how organically the work of the master from Russia fits into European art, part of which, then, was Russian painting.
In Paris, the “Russian Ballet” tour of Sergei Diaghilev was a success, Bakst took part in decorating the productions he brought. It is believed that the gouache “Naked” inspired by the image of Vaclav Nijinsky, an outstanding dancer of the Diaghilev troupe, whom Chagall met in St. Petersburg.
This work shows the influence of Cubism and Fauvism, but most of all it is close to the paintings of Russian avant-gardists – Natalia Goncharova and Mikhail Larionov, who also worked with Diaghilev. Smooth lines are combined here with broken ones, colors argue with each other, but the master, like the named artists, even being entrenched in formal tasks, did not deviate from figurative painting. The body of the depicted person expresses an inner expression that fills the image with life forces.
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