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Introduction by Kenn Sava-
Lana Hattan is the person responsible for my starting NighthawkNYC.com in 2015, so it’s only fitting that she is now the first person besides myself to write a piece published here. A lifelong admirer of Marc Chagall’s Art, she has also been a Chagall researcher for over a decade on two continents. She has lectured and created & presented slideshows on various aspects of Chagall’s life, including his & his wife, Bella’s, lives in NYC.
On May 15th, 2015, Lana interviewed Marc Chagall’s granddaughter, the renowned flower designer Bella Meyer, at her popular fleursBella studio in Greenwich Village. I am proud to present it here accompanied by Photos she & I took that day.
Written & Photographed by Lana Hattan
Exclusive to NighthawkNYC.com
(*-Additional Photos by Kenn Sava.)
Lana Hattan at Bella Meyer’s fleursBella, May 15, 2015.
Visitors to Manhattan’s fleursBella are usually taken aback by the floral studio’s unique beauty and spectacular designs. Once the visitors learn that the owner and creative director of the award-winning studio, Bella Meyer, also happens to be Marc Chagall’s granddaughter, they may come away with the feeling that Chagall’s mastery of color lives in her work.
Bella Meyer was born in Paris, and she grew up in Switzerland. She studied Art History Sorbonne University in Paris and earned a Ph.D. in Medieval Art History. In the early eighties, she moved to New York. Today, she is the owner of the studio & shop fleursBella in Manhattan where this interview took place.
Meeting Bella. May 15, 2015.
Could you share your earliest memories of your grandfather, Marc Chagall?
“Although we didn’t live with grandfather, he was a very important person in my family. My mother, his daughter, was always very close to her father. We talked about him all the time. I was always surrounded by his paintings, which like family.
When we visited Chagall in Southern France, where he lived, we liked to go for walks and talk. He would tell us about his childhood and our grandmother, his wife, who unexpectedly died in the year 1944. He called her only ’my Bella’. My grandfather said that she could always understand him.
I liked watching as grandfather painted in his studio. Once I witnessed how long it took him to choose a gray tone, which wasn’t his favorite.
Grandfather was always kind to us grandchildren. I remember how he would hug me, touch my cheek, take my hand into his palms. I have this memory of being touched as if it were a miracle. Sometimes, it is very hard to describe the feeling. My feelings are deep inside, and it’s hard to find the words.”
Bella Mayer at fluersbella.
If you were to decide to describe your childhood memories about your grandfather, not in words, but color, what color would you choose?
“I would use very, very soft colors. I wouldn’t use very contrasting colors.”
I know that you have liked drawing since early childhood. Who taught you to draw?
“My mother taught me how to draw. She drew and painted very well but then stopped doing it. Grandfather liked her paintings.”
You went to study Art History at the University. Was it your decision?
“Yes, I didn’t want to study anything else. When I entered the University I said that I wanted to study art. They asked, “you want to learn how to paint”. I repeated that I want to study Art. It was funny. ( Bella said with a smile).”
Did you talk about Art with your grandfather while you were studying?
“While I was a student, he came to Paris, and we visited galleries, walked and talked about Art. He was an amazing narrator.”
Books on Chagall, top, and on flowers, below, at fleursBella.
Why did you decide to move to New York?
“I was attracted to New York’s popular culture, contemporary art, and certainly to jazz.”
Did your grandfather like this idea?
“My grandfather didn’t like my decision. He had sad memories associated with New York. His wife and muse, my grandmother, died when they lived in New York. It was an awful time for him.”
When you came to New York you designed costumes, masks, and puppets for theater, but in 2003 you founded a floral design company and in 2009 you opened a floral in Manhattan. Why did you decide to create with flowers?
“I have always loved flowers, I bought it for my mother and grandfather. He loved to paint bouquets. I also liked to work with color and texture. Once a day, I visited the big flower market in New York, where there are a lot of flowers. I realized that only flowers can have such as a rich variety of colors and textures that I was always looking for, and it is the amazing source of my creativity.”
I saw a small chair near your studio’s door with a sign “Please, Take a flower”….
“When I founded the fleursBella company, I wanted to give people a little moment of joy and we would leave small bouquets into street or subway stations. My husband called it “Graffiti Flowers!” Now, we don’t have time and, so, we put flowers or small bouquets outside on a little chair, for anyone to take along with them. Perhaps, it is not a very good idea for a business.”
What are your favorite flowers?
“My tastes are constantly changing. Flowers are so beautiful. Now, peonies are my favorite. They have an amazing color, texture, and smell.”
(She looked at a bouquet of peonies with admiration).
What projects are you currently working on?
“We are making an installation for The Brooklyn Academy of Music. (Bella thought for a moment ) I want to make something just as touching as the music!”
Do your children connect with Art?
“Yes, they do.”
In one of your interviews, you said: “Grandfather always urged us to look for, as he said, for an ideal”. What do you think is your ideal?
“The ideal is a constant search. This is not something static. I try to do things from my heart and to follow that.”
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