GAHZLY

It was the summer of 1927. King George V was in Scotland at his northern home, Balmoral Castle. Staying with him for a few days was his Finance Minister (or “Chancellor of the Exchequer”). While most visitors enjoyed the outdoor life of the Scottish countryside, during this visit the minister spent much of his time indoors with canvas, oils and brushes. The king had an idea. He was sponsoring a charity auction in the neighbourhood of the castle, and was on the lookout for good items for the sale. Now he knew where he could get something that would raise a fair price. “Minister, how would you like to donate your painting to the local charity?” Although by no means an authoritarian monarch, a request from the king was as good as a command, and duly the painting was sold to the highest bidder, raising a sum equivalent to around $10,000 today. Shortly afterwards the Chancellor joked in a letter to the king’s private secretary that maybe he should sell so...

The 20th century European Modernist, Figurative artist, Mark Zakharovich Shagal, or Marc Chagall was born Moshe Shagal on July 7, 1887 in Vitebsk, Belarus, the then part of the Russian Federation. The eldest of nine children, Marc hailed from a Russian-Jewish family. His father, Khatskl (Zakhar) Shagal, worked for a herring merchant and his mother, Feige-Ite, ran a small grocery store. During his early years, Chagall was not allowed to attend a local community school because of his Jewish descent. His mother had to bribe the head master fifty rubles to allow him in. Chagall started drawing as a schoolchild. He copied portraits and other famous drawings. Jewish-Belarusian artist-painter Yehuda Pen tutored him on painting in 1906. In 1907, Marc joined the School of the Society of Art Supporters, at St. Petersburg. He was taught there by the Russian painter, Nikolai Roerich. During 1908-10, Marc Chagall studied at the Zvantseva School of Drawing and Painting. In 1909, at the age of twenty...