Editing Marc Chagall (section)

===Art education===
[[File:Yury Pen - Portrait of Marc Chagall.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Chagall by [[Yehuda Pen]], his first art teacher in [[Vitebsk]]]]

In the Russian Empire at that time, Jewish children were not allowed to attend regular schools and universities imposed a [[Jewish quota|quota on Jews]]. Their movement within the city was also restricted. Chagall therefore received his primary education at the local Jewish religious school, where he studied [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and the Bible. At the age of 13, his mother tried to enrol him in a regular high school, and he recalled: "But in that school, they don't take Jews. Without a moment's hesitation, my courageous mother walks up to a professor." She offered the headmaster 50 roubles to let him attend, which he accepted.<ref name=Chagall/>

A turning point of his artistic life came when he first noticed a fellow student drawing. Baal-Teshuva writes that, for the young Chagall, watching someone draw "was like a vision, a revelation in black and white". Chagall would later say that there was no art of any kind in his family's home and the concept was totally alien to him. When Chagall asked the schoolmate how he learned to draw, his friend replied, "Go and find a book in the library, idiot, choose any picture you like, and just copy it". He soon began copying images from books and found the experience so rewarding he then decided he wanted to become an artist.<ref name=Teshuva/>

Goodman writes that Chagall eventually confided to his mother, "I want to be a painter", although she could not yet understand his sudden interest in art or why he would choose a vocation that "seemed so impractical". The young Chagall explained: "There's a place in town; if I'm admitted and if I complete the course, I'll come out a regular artist. I'd be so happy!" It was 1906, and he had noticed the studio of [[Yehuda Pen|Yehuda (Yuri) Pen]], a realist artist who operated a drawing school in Vitebsk. At the same time, future artists [[El Lissitzky]] and [[Ossip Zadkine]] were also Pen's students. Due to Chagall's youth and lack of income, Pen offered to teach him free of charge. However, after a few months at the school, Chagall realized that academic portrait painting did not suit him.<ref name=Teshuva/>