Chagall's Love of Life

The Red Flowers painted by Chagall in 1950

The Macao Museum of Art might not be very big, but it holds marvelous shows -- that are free!

Last year it was on Chinese artist Zhang Daqian's visits to the Dunhuang caves in Gansu province, and this time to coincide with Le French May, a show on Marc Chagall on his years in Southern France.

Three years ago we went to Nice and visited the Musee National Marc Chagall. The pieces on display were massive, requiring viewers to stand or sit back to soak in everything that was going on in each canvas.

One of Chagall's works converted into a tapestry

Here it was the opposite -- the vast majority were small pieces that required intimate viewing to fully appreciate the colours, emotions and imaginative compositions the artist made.

It also revealed how multi-faceted an artist Chagall was -- not only did he paint on canvas, but was also made lithographs, designed ballet costumes and sets, as well as painted murals, ceilings and created stained glass pieces in cathedrals. Oh and collaborated with weavers to make tapestries too.

He was born a Hassidic Jew in Vitebsk in 1887 and the theme of the Bible would resonate throughout his work. He described the Bible "like an echo of nature and this secret I have tried to transmit".

One of his impressive projects were the stained glass windows for Hadassah University Medical Centre in Jerusalem, where the 12 panels are about the 12 tribes of Israel, the descendants of the 12 sons of Jacob.

A relatively empty museum showing fantastic works of art

His life had its ups and downs. His first wife Bella Rosenfeld died in 1944, but then two years later he would have a son with an English woman, Virginia Haggard McNeil, who would later leave him. Chagall would marry again, a woman 25 years younger, Valentina Brodsky, who would manage his affairs so that he could focus on his art.

In the 1950s he moved to the south of France and was taken by the warm light, and the deep blue Mediterranean sea. Intense colours took centre stage and many of his works feature deep blues along with other symbols like sirens, fish, and mythical beings.

The paintings look so soaked through with colour that they seem so optimistic, playful, romantic and lush.

Deep colours in Siren and Fish, 1956-60

In 1952 and 1954 he went to Greece as he was commissioned by publisher Teriade to do illustrations of the pastoral romance of Daphinus and Chloe. He seemed immensely inspired by this couple and created numerous sketches of them.

He also worked on Stravinsky's The Firebird in 1945-46 and the exhibition displays several of the costumes on mannequins. The clothing is described as very light and during fittings, he would personally paint them. Over the years the costumes were worn and mended, but now they are museum pieces. Next to the display was a video showing the performers dancing in the costumes. Chagall was ahead of his time.

Despite being from Russia, Chagall applied for and was approved for citizenship in France. Many of his commissions were there, including painting the ceiling of the Opera de Paris. He was 77 years old at the time, but personally painted the 220 square metre area. The design pays tribute to 14 composers and their works.

One of many paintings on Daphinus and Chloe

He also made "Biblical Message" in 1955, featuring 12 large oil paintings that illustrate Genesis and Exodus that he donated to the French state in 1966 and wanted them exhibited together. Chagall spent time working on the sketches and small-scale oil paintings that can also be seen in the show.

In 1985 he died at the age of 98 and was buried in Saint-Paul de Vence.

I learned a lot more about Chagall and his life thanks to this show, that was only visited by a handful of other people in the late afternoon.

Even better is that I finally figured out that it is located behind Sands casino; just take the shuttle to Sands and it's a five-minute walk to the museum.

Marc Chagall, Light and Colour in Southern France

Until August 26

Macao Museum of Art

Av. Xian Xing Hai

Macau

(853) 8791 9814
http://www.mam.gov.mo/e/index

Thoughts on the Nice Attacks

Investigators sift through the carnage and bullet-riddled truck in Nice

There is shocking news out of Nice, France this afternoon Vancouver time, where at least 84 people were killed after a large white truck drove onto the Promenade des Anglais which was full of people celebrating Bastille Day.

Details are still sketchy, but it seems like a man known to police for petty crimes drove the truck into the crowd, and police tried desperately to stop it, shooting bullets into the windshield until the driver was "neutralized".

The scene just over a year ago on Promenade des Anglais

This latest attack happened eight months after the Paris ones, where gunmen and suicide bombers almost simultaneously hit a concert hall, major stadium, restaurants and bars that left 130 dead on November 13.

It is chilling to think about because on July 8 last year, we visited Nice, walking along the Promenade des Anglais too, though in the daytime.

It was quite hot that day, no clouds in the sky, as we walked along the strip by the ocean. A few months earlier mainland Chinese billionaire Li Jinyuan made headlines when he took 6,400 staff on a paid vacation to France, including a visit to Nice, where they occupied a big chunk of the promenade.

There isn't sand on the beach, but rounded rocks, so we gingerly made our way down to the water, took off our shoes and waded into the crystal blue water though it was quite cold! It was amazing to see some people swimming in there.

The clear blue water was quite chilly for July!

Those are my memories of Nice and so it is shocking to hear the horrific news of what happened there several hours ago.

In the coming days, weeks and months we will find out more details of who was behind the attacks and why. But the fact that it happened on July 14, France's national day which represents freedom, has left people in shock, but hopefully with the resolve to carry on with courage.

Last Thoughts en France

Capturing the morning sun rays through the clouds over the Rhone River

After our tour of France, we reflected on what we saw and experienced, and it was quite a lot! We walked through many chateaus, visited a number of cathedrals and churches, saw lots of art work and hunted around for grocery stores.

Finding these stores were tough, particularly in small towns, where everything was shut -- except for restaurants -- by 7pm. We also liked to look for and buy the cheapest water we could get, and a 1.5 litre bottle could be had for 0.20 euros.

Looking out over Paris from Centre Pompidou

In general though, the people were quite nice to us, perhaps knowing full well the country is dependent on tourism to keep the economy relatively afloat. Wait staff were friendly for the most part, sometimes aloof rather than attentive -- in Hong Kong this would be an outrage, but we were on holiday so we didn't mind -- so much.

Only one or two people we encountered had snobbish attitudes, including a guy who hosted us as a winery museum and assumed we knew nothing about wines or tasting them.

He proudly demonstrated how to first smell the wine, swirl it in the glass and then smell it again, sip the wine and swish it around the mouth with sucking sounds and then politely spit it out into a bucket.

His mostly American guests were too keen to drink the wine, or too self-conscious to spit. But he made it sound like it was such an art form, but really it's an industry thing, not a consumer practice.

A lot of the French women we saw had some kind of style. They were not too practical when it came to dressing, but not too outlandish either, no matter what age. They seem to have an innate sense of style, or is it because the shops there sell more stylish clothes?

A colourful set of umbrellas -- Hong Kong?! -- in Les Baux

On our last day in Nice I noticed an elderly couple on the street, a woman in her 70s wearing a sleeveless dress, and had obviously put some effort into dressing up with a matching handbag and wore a gold necklace around her neck.

The elderly man she was with was more straight forward in his outfit, but it made me realize that men in France do appreciate and notice what their partner is wearing. It seems to be a given that a French woman will dress up, and men innately know to appreciate her style.

In Nice in particular, but also in Paris, women dress nonchalantly, even if bra straps are showing, or tops and bottoms are see-through. Perhaps in Hong Kong most people are keen to present a professional image, as most people here look proper, wearing suits and dresses without revealing too much.

It's not unusual to find women wearing short skirts or dresses with hems way above the knee. We didn't see too many wearing heels, most wearing flats or sandals because they walk so much.

The French will buy baguettes almost on a daily basis and carry it half covered in one hand and the rest of the shopping or their briefcase in the other. It seems bread is a crucial staple here, much like rice and noodles are to the Chinese, though we wouldn't carry them around so easily.

The food we ate was mid-priced in touristy areas and value for money. Almost all the dishes we ate came with very large salads, or the salads on menus were large enough to be a meal in itself. Perhaps another reason the French stay relatively slim?

We were also quite impressed with the truck rest stops. One of them had a grocery section on one side, a cafeteria-style eatery on the other, and there were large washrooms and even showers for people to use. However to keep things moving along, the women's toilets did not have seats...!

On the whole though we were very happy with the overall experience in France (minus the taxi strike on the first day!) and with the weak euro we took advantage of the sales of up to 50 percent off! Interestingly at the airport, there were some mark downs there too, but the selection and the discounts weren't able to entice travelers to spend the last of their euros...

Seeing Old Nice and Marc Chagall

A breathtaking view of Nice, known as the Cote d'Azur

Today we had a full day in Nice on our own and we wandered down to the flower market at Cours Saleya, where we saw lots of stalls selling fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, sea salts mixed with herbs and pepper, a wide variety of herbs and spices, and even seafood.

Then we walked a long the Promenade des Anglais -- which by the way is the same place Chinese billionaire Li Jinyuan took 6,500 of his employees for an incentive trip earlier this year.

Beautiful fluffy light pink peonies in bloom!

He celebrated his company Tiens' 20th anniversary by having the staff in sky blue uniforms spell out "Tiens Dream is Nice in Cote d'Azur".

When we visited today we thought it was nice that the rainbow flag was flying right next to the Chinese one...

We also dipped our feet into the Mediterranean -- but not without some effort walking on the rocks -- there's no sand! -- and boy did it hurt! But I have to say it was like Chinese foot massages, the rounded rocks pressing on various parts of our feet and afterwards I was surprisingly more relaxed!

Zucchinis including their flowers (left) are for sale!

The water was chilly, but not freezing -- perfect complement to the already hot temperatures at around 10.30am.

Nearby is a large park up on a hill, at the end of Promenade desk Anglais (that becomes Quai des Etats-Unis). We went up to the elevator to have a wonderful panoramic view of the city, from the deep blue Mediterranean sea to the terracotta-tiled roofs dotted all over the city.

Then we went back down to wander through the old part of the city, with its narrow alleyways -- and hence hardly any vehicular traffic. We managed to find the main cathedral St Reparate, with its distinctive yellow tiled domed roof.

The water by the beach is very clear, though covered in rocks

After lunch at the nearby square where the cathedral is located, we set off for the Marc Chagall Museum. It was near impossible to flag a taxi -- why aren't there many in a tourist town like this? But we stumbled on a backpacker information place and the kind woman there who was not French gave us directions on how to take the bus.

We managed to squeeze onto the bus for 1.5 euros each, and after about five stops arrived at Musee Marc Chagall. The building is modern and minimalist on the outside, with lots of olive trees in front.

The museum was inaugurated on July 7, 1973, Marc Chagall's 86th birthday. It is the first time a national museum was devoted to an artist in his lifetime.

Cathedral St Reparate with its dome at the back

The place housing works Chagall and his wife Valentina donated to the state in 1966 and 1972. Most of the pieces are related to the Old Testament in the Bible, as Chagall was Jewish.

Many of the paintings we saw were vibrant, full of colours and fantastical images that seemed to be imaginary and whimsical, though at the same time full of Biblical meanings, either full of hope or despair, but also lots of love.

There are many figures of women gently cradling babies, or men embracing women, and lots of symbols in the paintings to illustrate lessons in the Bible.

Not only did Chagall dabble in paintings, but also tapestries, mosaics and stained glass, which of course meant relying on others to execute his designs. As he grew older he took on commissions with greater importance.

Chagall's paintings here have Old Testament associations

As for his association with Nice, Chagall first came here in 1926 and the flowers at the market left a deep impression on him; he returned after World War II. He didn't live in Nice per se, but drew many pictures of the "Bay of Angels", featuring lovers, mermaids, fish, and bouquets of flowers.

Looking at the large body of work in the museum, it seemed like Chagall wasn't afraid to experiment and very determined about what he wanted to do. He seems like a dynamic character who was compelled to make art.

We were surprised for a national museum not to offer brochures about the place to give more information about Chagall and his work, not even nice ticket stubs to remember the place by!

Chagall's homage to the Cote d'Azur below

Then we caught the bus back into town. I handed the bus driver exact change for the four of us, but he didn't take the money, saying he had no more tickets to give out, and yet let us on the bus! Is this why the French are having financial issues?!

From Provence to Nice

The picturesque town of Gordes in Provence

Our visit to Provence ended today, with a quick visit to Gordes, considered the most picturesque town in France, and the stone villas look simultaneously rustic and luxurious.

Spotted Marilyn Monroe on the wall of a hotel

They are scattered over the hills, some with swimming pools to keep cool. We happened to pass by during a farmer's market where fresh vegetables and fruits were sold, along with clothing and espadrilles.

We were particularly impressed by the walls, made of individual rough plate-like stones that were assembled with a bit of mortar in between to hold them together, or with time, as there were even plants growing in the dirt that had accumulated between the cracks.

Another quick tour of Cannes was made, where the film festival began in 1946, where And God Created Woman which made Brigitte Bardot a star. Nine years later the Palm d'Or was established to award the best film of the event by a jury made up of actors and directors.

The "organ", where scents are mixed to create a perfume

And how can we pass through the area without going to Grasse, home of where perfume is made? Our tour (like many other groups) went to Fragonard, named after the painter and printmaker Jean-Honore Fragonard who was born in Grasse in 1732.

In the 16th century it was fashionable to wear perfume to mask the smell of leather. Fragonard the perfumery was started in 1926 and our guide hinted the company made perfumes for other companies.

The "nose", or the person who creates the scents is highly sought after. It takes nine years to study to become one -- if they have the talent for it.

A ceremony marking the deaths of two resistance members

In general it takes 10,000 flowers to make 1kg of essence, and lavender will be cut in the next few days, of which takes 600kg for 1kg of essence of the purple flower.

We arrived in Nice late in the afternoon and temperatures cooled down quickly in early evening. After dinner we walked along the street and heard La Marseillaise, or the French anthem being played.

When we got closer, we saw older men with medals on their shirts carrying French flags, as well as a few women, while a military band played. The ceremony was quickly over after that and many people dispersed.

Remembering those fighting against Hitler

Some people explained to us that it was on this day in 1944 that two members of the resistance were caught by the Nazis and were hung on the lamp post on the two adjacent corners and made people in the town parade past them to show they were an example.

White flowers with ribbons in blue, red and white were laid on the ground, while others placed red carnations at the two spots. The plaques gave the names of the two men who died, and paintings of their portraits were placed there for the ceremony.

It was interesting to see that though two people died here, they were remembered even to this day. It also shows how much people here hated Hitler, as the plaque says his name and not the Nazis.

Soon after we heard jazz playing further down the street to find the Nice Jazz Festival has just gotten underway today until July 12. The line up includes people like Jamie Cullum, Lauryn Hill, Jason Moran, and Kool and the Gang.

Children have fun playing in the water park near the square

Across the street is a water park and children had a great time playing with the mist and water fountains that spewed out of the black slate. We may head there tomorrow to beat the heat!

Company Holiday China Style

Li Jinyuan has made a name for himself treating over 6,000 staff to France

A few days ago a Chinese billionaire and half his workforce of 6,400 people went on a massive incentive trip with him to France.

Talk about a logistical challenge in booking flights, hotels and coaches for several thousand people to tour around Paris and Nice.

Li Jinyuan, founder and chairman of Tiens Group got a lot of attention from local and overseas media for not only treating so many employees at once to celebrate the company's 20th anniversary, but also making them spell out "Tiens' dream is nice in the Cote d'Azur" for the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest human-made phrase.

Spelling out a message using 6,400 people to make letters

Some critics claimed Li was just getting attention for himself, showing off his wealth, and using the trip to push his employees to work harder. Isn't that what incentive trips are about?

Tiens Group makes its money in direct selling, moving 11.5 billion yuan last year in health care, skincare, and household products in China and other countries.

It was estimated the massive group spent HK$113 million on the four-day trip to Paris and Nice. Some employees showed off their purchases -- around 13 million euros -- that included lots of luxury name brand goods.

Li claimed his staff were well behaved on their free holiday, helping to improve the image of mainland tourists abroad. He must have given them a lecture about this before they went on the trip.

And how did Li amass his riches to be ranked 24th on the Hurun China rich list with a personal fortune of 35 billion yuan?

Staff seemed to enjoy their free trip and the shopping too

He left school at an early age and began working in an oil field at 14 years of age. He made money by selling clothing, audio recorders and grain during his free time.

Then Li moved to property, but got out after the government started implementing tightening measures, and so he started manufacturing his own calcium supplement and selling them.

His company is ranked 7th in direct sales in terms of sales on the mainland, following such competitors as Amway of the United States, Malaysia's Perfect China, and Infinitus of Hong Kong.