La Mariée

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La Mariée ("The Bride") is a 1950 painting by Jewish artist Marc Chagall.

[edit] Description

The young woman is shown in a red dress, with a white veil draped over her head: the choice of brilliant colors was deliberate, in order to make her shine over the darker background, which includes fanciful animals playing instruments and the church. A man is adjusting her veil as if to make sure that she is presented perfectly for her groom. ^[1]

[edit] Notting Hill

In the 1999 film Notting Hill, Julia Robert's character Anna Scott sees a print of La Mariée in the home of Hugh Grant's character, William Thacker. Anna later gives William what is presumably the original. According to director Roger Michell in an article in Entertainment Weekly, the painting was chosen because screenwriter Richard Curtis was a fan of Chagall's work, and because La Mariée "depicts a yearning for something that's lost." Producers had a reproduction made for use in the film, but had to first get permission from the painting's owners as well as clearance from the British Design and Artists Copyright Society. Finally, according to producer Duncan Kenworthy, "...we had to agree to destroy it. They were concerned that if our fake was too good, it might float around the market and create problems." The article also notes that "...some experts say the real canvas could be worth between $500,000 and $1 million." ^[2]

[edit] References