Much of his highly coloured, fantastic imagery was inspired by the village life of his boyhood and by Jewish and Russian folk traditions. He was an original figure, often seen as a precursor of Surrealism. I and the Village 1911 (Museum of Modern Art, New York) is characteristic. Chagall was born in Liosno, Vitebsk. He studied painting under Leon Bakst in St Petersburg and then in Paris 1910-14, where, largely ignoring avant-garde movements, he concentrated on his highly personal fantasy. He worked in Russia during World War I but returned to Paris 1922 and lived mainly in France from then on. He designed mosaics (for Israel's Knesset in the 1960s), the ceiling of the Paris Opera House 1964, tapestries, and stage sets. Examples of his stained glass can be found in a chapel in Vence, S France, the cathedrals of Chartres, Metz, and Reims, and in a synagogue near Jerusalem 1961. He also produced illustrated books, in particular editions of the Bible and La Fontaine's Fables. His autobiography, Ma Vie/My Life, appeared 1933.
