ART-LOVERS will get the chance to own work by a leading 20th-Century artist when a Northumberland gallery showcases prints by Marc Chagall.

Balman Gallery in Corbridge is currently putting the finishing touches to its autumn exhibition which opens next week, and Chagall is the star of the show.

The Russian, famous for his extraordinary variety of artistic styles, left behind a body of work ranging from colourful abstracts and etchings to tapestries, theatre sets and stained-glass windows on his death in 1985 at the age of 97.

This exhibition features up to 50 of his lithographs and etchings which will be for sale with prices starting from £350.

It’s another coup for the gallery which recently hosted a Picasso exhibition.

“We’re quite lucky to get hold of these prints,” director Andy Balman said.

“The Picasso exhibition proved extremely popular with people from all over the region here to see it.

“What many are surprised about is how affordable some of the prints can be by some of the biggest names in art.”

Chagall was an artist impossible to pigeon-hole, with his styles taking in fine art, modernism and cubism.

His influences were rich and varied, soaking up the folk culture of his Jewish ancestry, later life in France and escape from its wartime occupation to America.

In 1963 the modernist was controversially commissioned to paint a new ceiling for the historic Paris Opera house, while in New York he did a window for the United Nations building and murals for the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.

Among his best-known works are Bible illustrations which he created against the backdrop of Hitler’s rise to power and anti-semitism.

The work on show in Corbridge is from the Bible series as well as series he did on Paris, Fables of Fontaine and Jerusalem.

“When you mention Chagall most people know his work,” said Mr Balman, who credits the artist’s “style and the colours he uses” among the reasons he remains so popular to this day.

“This is a good range of colourful work and the Bible series is a fantastic range.”

It forms part of a joint autumn exhibition which sees Chagall share wall space with Scottish artist Dylan Lisle.

Lisle, who studied fine art in Aberdeen and is an admirer of Dutch painters Vermeer and Rembrandt, is exhibiting contemporary figurative paintings with the look and lighting of Old Masters.

“Dylan Lisle’s beautifully painted figures complement Marc Chagall’s work perfectly,” added Mr Balman.

The exhibition runs from Friday, September 14, at the gallery in Town Hall Buildings, Princes Street, until October 31.