Bella Rosenfeld

Bella Rosenfeld Chagall (Russian: Бэлла Розенфельд-Шагал, 15 November 1895, Vitebsk - 2 September 1944, New York State) was a Jewish Belarusian writer and the first wife of painter Marc Chagall. She was the subject of many of Chagall's paintings including Bella au col blanc (Bella with White Collar) in 1917, and appears posthumously in Bouquet près de la fenêtre, painted in 1959-1960.

Bella with White Collar, by Marc Chagall, 1917.

Timeline of her biography

• 1895 Bella Rosenfeld was born into the wealthy Jewish family of a Vitebsk jeweler.
• 1909 She met Marc Chagall, at that time, a penniless apprentice of Léon Bakst. According to Marc, their love started the moment they saw each other and continued for 35 years.
• 1915 they were married and moved to Petrograd.
• 1916 she gave birth to their daughter Ida.
• 1918 they returned to Vitebsk
• 1922 they emigrated to Lithuania and then to Germany.
• 1924 they moved to Paris.
• 1939 they moved to the south of France
• 1941 arrested in Marseille and then fled to the United States
• September 2, 1944 Bella died from a bacterial infection
• 1946 Posthumously Bella Chagall's most famous book The Burning Lights was published.

Works

• The Burning Lights, ISBN 0-930395-26-3
• First Encounter, ISBN 0-8052-3768-2

Bibliography

• Shishanov V. «These young people were socialists … ». Participants of revolutionary movement in Marc Chagall and Belly Rozenfeld's environment // Bulletin of the Museum of Marc Chagall. 2005. №13. P. 64-74.
• Shishanov, V. «Wishing to arrive...» (Documents on study Belly Rozenfeld on the Moscow higher female courses)// The Chagalovsky sbornik. Release. 3. Materials X - XIV Chagalovsky readings in Vitebsk (2000-2004). Minsk: «Riftur», 2008. P.176-182.