Chagall Bella- Burning Candles [drawings by Marc Chagall].

Krakow 1978/ Wydawnictwo Literackie/ first edition/ publisher's binding, canvas with paper wrapper/13x20.5cm/s.377/ black and white drawings in the text/ very good condition, minor imperfections in wrapper

Book accompanied by drawings by Marc Chagall

The fictionalized memoirs of Marc Chagall's wife, in which she describes her childhood, old Jewish traditions and holidays, and the story of how she met her future husband (then a young artist).

Bella Rosenfeld Chagall- She was born into the wealthy Hasidic family of jeweler Shmuel Noah and Alta Rosenfeld. She was the youngest of eight children. She studied at the Alexeevskaya Female Gymnasium, where she mastered French and German. Her high academic performance earned her a silver medal, which gave her a chance for further education.

In 1909 she met Marc Chagall. It was to be love at first sight. Despite the objections of Bella's family, after years of keeping in touch by correspondence, they married in 1915. They settled in Vitebsk, then in St. Petersburg. Bella abandoned her academic and acting career to devote herself to raising her daughter Ida, whom she gave birth to in 1916. Two years later, the family returned to Vitebsk. They then moved to Moscow, and in 1923 to Paris. The family traveled around France in connection with the painter's exhibitions. In 1931 Bella and Marc spent time in Palestine. In 1941, the couple decided to flee to the United States.

In 1922 Bella edited and translated her husband's autobiography from Russian into French (Ma Vie, 1931; English translation, My Life, 1960). In France in 1939, she wrote Brenendike Likht in Yiddish. The work was published in English in 1946 as Burning Lights. Daughter Ida translated the texts from Yiddish into French, and Bella's husband did the illustrations and wrote the afterword. Bella was prompted to write in Yiddish by visits to Palestine in 1931 and Vilna in 1935

Bella died from a bacterial infection of the throat or, more likely, diabetes. The Committee of Jewish Writers, Artists and Scientists organized an evening at Carnegie Hall dedicated to her. About 200 friends and family acquaintances attended.

Bella was Marc Chagall's most important muse, the heroine of many of his paintings.