Marc Chagall

One of the main events in the life of George Costakis was a meeting with Marc Chagall. Chagall's works were priceless treasures for the collector: he acquired everything that related to Chagall's work. In 1952 in Paris, the Cultural Attaché of the French Embassy, Alexander Kem told Marc Chagall about a Moscow collector who was interested in his art. Chagall was very touched and flattered. The correspondence began. Many letters were accompanied by the artist's drawings and sketches of his paintings left in Russia.

The two first met in person in 1956, when Costakis was allowed to travel abroad - he immediately rushed to Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Castakis lived in Chagall's house on the Cote d'Azur for ten days, spending time with the great artist and his wife Vava. Later, Costakis noted the inconsistency, the complexity of Chagall character. Nevertheless, for a large-scale Chagall exhibition in Hamburg in 1969, Costakis provided about twelve works from his collection.

It was George Costakis who persuaded the artist to come to Moscow - this visit took place in 1973. Marc Chagall came to the Costakis apartment at prospekt Vernadskogo and was immensely impressed by his avant-garde collection. When emigrating, Costakis left the best Chagall works to the Tretyakov Gallery: among them were paintings created by the master in Vitebsk after his return from Paris in 1914: “Peasant with a Basket” (1915), still life "Lilies of the Valley" (1916), as well as early "pre-Paris" gouaches "Butcher", “Musicians" and “Rain”.