FROM CHAGALL'S EARLY YEARS IN RUSSIA TO THE MONUMENTAL WORK OF HIS OLD AGE MARC CHAGALL, WHO DIED IN 1985 AT THE AGE OF 97, IS REGARDED AS ONE OF THE GREATEST ARTIST IN MODERN AR HE USED HIS GREAT TALENT TO CREATE A UNIQUE WORLD FULL OF MAGIC, POETRY, ENCHANTMENT AND FANTASY. HIS USE OF INTENSE, GLOWING COLOURS CONJURED UP MEMORIES OF HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH IN VITEBSK, IN TODAY'S BELARUS. RICH IN MYTHOLOGICAL AND SYMBOLIC REFERENCES, HIS PAINTINGS WERE INFLUENCED BY BYZANTINE AND RUSSIAN ICONS AND FOLK ART AND OFTEN DEPICTS COUPLES FLOATING BLISSFULLY THROUGH THE AIR, SEEMING TO DEFY THE LAWS OF GRAVITY. THE POETRY AND BIBLICAL INSPIRATION OF HIS PAINTINGS HAVE ALWAYS APPEALED TO A BROAD PUBLIC AND HIS WORKS ARE POPULAR AMONGST COLLECTORS ALL OVER THE WORLD. CHAGALL CONTINUED, IN HIS PAINTINGS, TO INVOKE HIS BIRTHPLACE OF VITEBSK, WITH ITS STRONG JEWISH TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND EVERYDAY LIFE, EVEN LONG AFTER HE MOVED TO PARIS PERMANENTLY IN 1923. PICASSO ONCE SAID: ""SINCE THE DEATH OF MATISSE, CHAGALL HAS BEEN THE ONLY ARTIST TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE TRUE NATURE OF COLOUR. HIS OIL PAINTINGS ARE REALLY PAINTED, NOT JUST PUT TOGETHER... NO ARTIST SINCE RENOIR HAS HAD SUCH A FEELING FOR LIGHT AS CHAGALL.""