A look at Paris through the eyes of Marc Chagall

A new exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is taking a fresh look at the influence that Paris had on Marc Chagall and his fellow modernists from 1910 to 1920. "Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle" opened yesterday and continues through July 10. It is being presented in conjunction with the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, which starts April 7.

The show in the museum's Perelman annex includes roughly 40 paintings and sculptures culled mainly from the museum's collection. Other featured artists include Chaim Soutine, Amedeo Modigliani and Jacques Lipchitz.

Among the highlights is Chagall's 1913 painting "Paris Through the Window," on loan from the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Political upheavals repeatedly interrupted Chagall's life and work. He went to Russia after the start of World War I, creating dark works reflective of the war and joyous pieces recalling his childhood in Vitebsk, now in Belarus. He went to Paris after the war but fled for New York in 1941. He returned to France in 1948 and remained there until his death in 1985.

The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts will be a citywide celebration that runs through May 1. Organized by the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts around the theme of early 20th-century Paris, it will include 135 events presented by 1,500 artists from 140 artistic and cultural groups.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Perelman Building, Fairmount and Pennsylvania Avenues, open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. $8, seniors $7, students and ages 13-18 $6, under 12 free, 215-763-8100, www.philamuseum.org.