The Paintings of Marc Chagall

I have been very fortunate in my life in that I have been witness to some wonderful events.

My father was always very keen on art and through his work in the City of London he was invited to a private showing of a major retrospective exhibition of the works of Russian Artist, Marc Chagall. The exhibition opened in January 1985 and needless to say I went with him - canapes and champagne abounded.

I have had since then a lifelong love of his paintings especially the way he reminisces about his home and roots in Vitebsk, his paintings of floating figures, and his use of colour.

Recently I was given the most fantastic birthday present from my mother - a copy of the biography of Chagall, Love in Exile by the author and Chief Art Critic for the Financial Times, Jackie Wullschlager. I would recommend this book to anyone as it is not just a book about a great artist but one about a struggle to survive and love all that is dear to you under the most extreme conditions.

I could not put the book down, and whilst I was reading it, it constantly reminded me of that visit to the Royal Academy with my late father. I felt an overwhelming pain of sadness when on the last but one page of the book, I learnt that shortly before that exhibition closed on the 28th March, "after a day spent quietly working in his studio, Chagall had a heart attack as he was leaving the elevator from his studio to the living quarters of La Colline, and died instantly."

One trip on the very top of my wish list is to his home in the South of France where his spent the last of his days and to his Museum there.