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The Fiddler on the Roof

Whimsical painting of a fiddler above a Russian village by Chagall
The Fiddler Marc Chagall
1912-13 Oil on canvas 188 x 158 cm

Did you know that the musical, Fiddler on The Roof was based on the painting "The Fiddler" by Marc Chagall?

This surreal painting is one of the many Chagall painted of Eastern European Jewish life which included a fiddler. 

The Fiddler is a metaphor for survival, through tradition and joyfulness, in a life of uncertainty and imbalance.

The musical was originally titled 'Tevye' and is based on 'Tevye and his Daughters' (or 'Tevye the Milkman') a Yiddish story by Sholem Aleichem and published in 1894.
​
This is what my mother told me about her father, my 
grandfather from Lyozno. Or perhaps I dreamt it. 
The feast of Sukkot or Simchat Torah. 
They look for him everywhere. 
Where is he, where is he? 
It turned out that because of the fine weather we were having, grandfather had climbed on to the roof, sat down on the chimney-pots, and was regaling himself on carrots. Not a bad picture. 
I do not mind if people, with joy and relief, discover the enigma of my pictures in these innocent adventures of my relatives.

Marc Chagall - My Life

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