MARC CHAGALL was one of the pioneers of modern art, working alongside Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

Born a Russian Jew, he survived the Russian revolution and the First and Second World Wars, and yet his paintings have a dream-like quality that is joyous.

The women in his life, starting with his mother, were all dedicated to him and put his work before all else. However, his love of Russia, his Jewishness and his first wife, Bella, were the main inspirations and are clearly shown in his colourful and memorable paintings.

This new biography is absorbing and easy to read. While Chagall does not come over as being a particularly nice man, his amount of self-belief and the role of women in his life makes interesting reading.

The in-depth descriptions of his works are enlightening. Though it is a pity there are not more colour illustrations to cross-reference to, but, after all, this is a biography and not a critique.

The book is well-illustrated with black and white photographs, while the colour reproductions do represent Chagall’s work from different times.

Although the book is about a master painter, we read about the role of artists in the Russian revolution and Stalin’s dictatorship, how they worked through the two world wars and what it was like to be a Jew in that era.

It is a history of survival in an age of mistrust and horrors and a history of art in that time, but more than that, it is the story of a remarkable man.