Apr 08, 2026
Following the success of Curwen Print Study Centre’s Matisse exhibition, last spring, its gallery will be showing the prints and lithographs of Marc Chagall, another truly great 20th century artist, this June. All work is available for sale to raise funds for this educational charity which is nestled in the beautiful Suffolk village of Great Thurlow. Admission and Parking is free.
The Russian born and largely French based Marc Chagall has long been recognised as one of the leaders of the 20th century’s golden age of modern art. A contemporary of Picasso, Dufy and Matisse, Chagall’s commissions include the monumental masterpiece that adorns the ceiling of the Paris L’Opera, three magnificent stained glass windows for Reims Cathedral and two massive murals for the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
The Curwen exhibition will show works of more modest size but with no lessening of artistic excellence. The show will include a lithograph detail of the Paris L’Opera ceiling featuring Romeo and Juliet and a set of 12 lithographs of the designs for Chagall’s iconic 12 stained glass windows The Twelve Tribes.
The Curwen Print Study Centre was established as an educational Fine Art Printmaking charity in the late 1990s by Master Printer Stanley Jones MBE and local entrepreneur and art lover Sam Alper OBE. It offers a comprehensive programme for adults whilst its highly successful education programme involves school students from Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.
Lorraine Chitson, the Centre Director, says of the exhibition- “This Chagall exhibition , at the Curwen Print Study Centre, is simply a must see show with the added bonus that visitors will be able to leave owning their own piece of Chagall. We at the Centre are delighted to be staging this exhibition in association with the world renowned Goldmark Gallery”.
Mike Goldmark, founder of the Goldmark Gallery over 50 years ago, adds; ‘We are equally pleased to be able to supply this exhibition to The Curwen Print Study Centre and to help it continue its mission inspiring artists and printmakers of all ages, as envisioned by the legendary Stanley Jones”.
Marc Chagall was born in Vitebsk, Russia in 1887. After studying in St Petersburg he went to Paris where he befriended the avant-garde circle of artists. In 1917 he returned to his native Vitebsk where he was made Director and Commissar of Fine Art. However, his fantasy-based work irked the conservative authorities so he left for Moscow to design for the new Jewish Theatre.
Returning to Paris in 1923 he met the art-dealer Vollard for whom he illustrated Gogol’s Dead Souls and the Fables of La Fontaine. Between 1941-47 he moved between occupied France and the USA, eventually settling near Nice. Chagall was a prolific artist, his work reminiscent of Jewish life, bible stories and of the folklore from his early years in Russia. He died in 1985.
The works of Marc Chagall will be on display at The Curwen Print Study Centre from 1-26 June 2026. Admission and Parking is free. The gallery is Mon to Friday 10 - 4pm. Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 June 11am - 5pm.