Marc Chagall was one of the leading artists of the twentieth century. The painter and engraver, a close friend of Pablo Picasso, marked his time with his unique works halfway between surrealism, neo-primitivism or even Fauvism. He was particularly appreciated for his paintings inspired by the Jewish tradition, but also by Russian fairy tales and his delusional dreams. It is also to him that we owe the majestic ceiling of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. When he passed away in 1985, the artist left behind an impressive artistic heritage as well as a colossal legacy, which benefited his two children but also his last wife Valentina Brodsky. A testament mainly composed of paintings of inestimable value which aroused many desires, told this Thursday, May 13 in an unpublished issue of the magazine Héritages on NRJ12.
Valentina Brodsky victim of a big scam
After having experienced great love for the first time with Bella Rosenfeld, a young girl from a family of wealthy Jewish goldsmiths, who gave him his first daughter, Marc Chagall had two serious relationships first with Virginia Haggard McNeil, 28 years his junior, who gives him an illegitimate son, David, then with Valentina Brodsky. It was in 1952 that he married the one who will be the last woman of his life. 18 years younger than her husband, she stayed by his side until he breathed his last at the age of 95 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. A discreet muse, she will have inspired her husband to some of her latest paintings. If she was able to recover a large part of her husband’s works upon his death, this legacy will have been heavy to bear for the painter’s widow who was swindled by her governess Irene Menskoy. The latter, influenced by her companion, operated numerous thefts within the villa of Valentina Brodsky, which gave rise to the Chagall affair. Valentina Brodsky passed away in December 1993 at the age of 88.
Marc Chagall and Valentina Brosky © AGENCE
