Marc Chagall was a renowned 20th-century artist, born in Vitebsk, Belorussia. He was the oldest of nine children in a working-class Jewish family. Chagall began studying painting at age 20 in Vitebsk and later in St. Petersburg. His early works displayed a distinctive style. In 1910, he moved to Paris and became familiar with art movements of the time, including Fauvism and Cubism, and prominent artists such as Picasso and Leger.

During WWI, Chagall returned to Vitebsk, where he married Bella Rosenfeld and became director of the Vitebsk Academy of Arts. He moved to Moscow in 1920 to work on stage decors and painted panels for the Jewish Theatre. He left Moscow for Europe in 1923 and met French art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who commissioned him to produce etchings for future publications. Chagall's paintings were exhibited in New York, Paris, and Berlin.

Despite growing anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany and the invasion of France in 1939, Chagall continued to work in France until he was convinced by his daughter Ida to leave for the United States in May 1941. He arrived in New York City in June 1941 and worked on theater sets and costumes. His paintings were exhibited in New York, Chicago, and Paris. His wife Bella died suddenly in 1944, and Marc ceased all work for almost a year. In 1946, the Metropolitan Museum of Art held an exhibition showing 40 years of Chagall's work. He began making plans to return to France and settled in Vence, in Provence, in 1950. Chagall continued to create graphic works, expanded the mediums he worked in, and produced public commissions. He died on March 28, 1985, in St. Paul de Vence.