THE AMERICA WINDOWS
Chagall's third panel merges the art of literature, symbolized by books and an inkwell, with the bicentennial theme of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The fourth continues the bicentennial theme with images of the Statue of Liberty and an eagle, as well as the Chicago skyline. In earlier sketches of these panels (1–2), Chagall included written passages from the song America, The Beautiful, but he later chose to eliminate these. He further simplified the design by reducing the scale of the eagle and made it more dynamic by moving the bird to the right side of the panel (4).
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(1) Marc Chagall. Chicago, Art Institute, Preparatory Study (detail), 1976. Pencil and ink on paper; 20.5 x 60 cm (8 1/16 x 23 5/8 in.). Musée National d'Art Moderne, AM 1998-81; (2) Chicago, Art Institute, Sketch for Window (3 & 4), 1976. Pencil and ink on paper; 29 x 35 cm (11 3/8 x 13 3/4 in.). Musée National d'Art Moderne, AM 1998-78; (3) Chicago, Art Institute, Preparatory Maquette (detail), 1976. Pencil, gouache, watercolor, and collage on paper; 20.4 x 59.2 cm (8 1/16 x 23 5/16 in.). Musée National d'Art Moderne, AM 1998-83; (4) Chicago, Art Institute, Final Maquette (3 & 4), 1976. Pencil, gouache, and watercolor on paper; 28.3 x 34.4 cm (11 1/8 x 13 9/16 in.). Musée National d'Art Moderne, AM 1998-82; (5) America Windows (detail), 1977. Stained glass; 244 x 978 cm (96 x 385 in.). The Art Institute of Chicago, a gift of Marc Chagall, the City of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board of The Art Institute of Chicago, commemorating the American Bicentennial in memory of Mayor Richard J. Daley, 1977.938.