Chaim SOUTINE (1893-1943)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Russia and Eastern Europe
Chronology : 1921 1923 1924 1925 1927 1928
See also : Russia and Eastern Europe
Chronology : 1921 1923 1924 1925 1927 1928
masterpiece
1919 Le Pâtissier
Barnes Foundation
Soutine has all the qualities of a true artist. He followed his own path, leaving no writings, destroying progressively his works that did not please him anymore.
On his arrival in Paris, Soutine had a job of luggage carrier at Montparnasse railway station. He took as subjects of his portraits the petty employees of hotels or restaurants, these people who help wealthy customers but are never considered by anyone.
He listened only to his inspiration exacerbated by his stomach ulcer, and his themes are new. Yet he had a predecessor: Modigliani, another Jew in Paris, his drinking companion in Montparnasse, who died in 1920.
The young foreign artists who settled in Paris had not foreseen the war. Zborowski, arrived from Poland around 1910, takes their destiny in hand. Zbo and his wife organize in April 1918 the exodus to Cagnes-sur-Mer of Modigliani with his friend Jeanne and her mother, Foujita and his wife Fernande, and Soutine.
He lived in poverty from 1919 on Zbo's expense at Céret, the Catalan village in French Pyrénées of Picasso's Cubist fame. He painted twisted landscapes as trials of colors. He got bored of that theme and would later try to recuperate his Céret landscapes for destruction.
Soutine put all his energy into his art. Unlike Modigliani, he varied his themes. The rotten meats brought to the artist some sensorial communion with his environment by their unbearable odor. For the human dimension, Soutine chose to highlight the humblest employees of hotels and restaurants. These men have their own petty and miserable life beyond the disguise of their job. They are ugly and unintelligent in their tightly buttoned ill-fitting uniforms.
Soutine was hypersensitive. He did not plan to withstand the emotional stress of a sitting session with one of his few friends and could not become a worldly artist. Pastry cooks, hotel boys and valets interested him because he had no sympathy for them. Soutine never commented his art. I cannot imagine that he spent time in front of such guys. He was possibly working from memory.
On December 1922 the US collector Albert Barnes registers his Barnes Foundation as an educational institution dedicated to promoting the appreciation of fine arts and arboriculture.
In January 1923 Barnes is in Paris for acquiring additional paintings for his project. He is overwhelmed by a Pâtissier with huge ears at the home of the dealer Paul Guillaume and purchases it. In the same trip Barnes buys about 50 artworks to Soutine, about 20 for his collection and the rest for dissemination through resale, enabling the artist to reach fame and to greatly improve his life conditions.
The image of the Barnes Pâtissier ex Guillaume, oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm painted by Soutine ca 1919 is shared by Wikimedia.
On his arrival in Paris, Soutine had a job of luggage carrier at Montparnasse railway station. He took as subjects of his portraits the petty employees of hotels or restaurants, these people who help wealthy customers but are never considered by anyone.
He listened only to his inspiration exacerbated by his stomach ulcer, and his themes are new. Yet he had a predecessor: Modigliani, another Jew in Paris, his drinking companion in Montparnasse, who died in 1920.
The young foreign artists who settled in Paris had not foreseen the war. Zborowski, arrived from Poland around 1910, takes their destiny in hand. Zbo and his wife organize in April 1918 the exodus to Cagnes-sur-Mer of Modigliani with his friend Jeanne and her mother, Foujita and his wife Fernande, and Soutine.
He lived in poverty from 1919 on Zbo's expense at Céret, the Catalan village in French Pyrénées of Picasso's Cubist fame. He painted twisted landscapes as trials of colors. He got bored of that theme and would later try to recuperate his Céret landscapes for destruction.
Soutine put all his energy into his art. Unlike Modigliani, he varied his themes. The rotten meats brought to the artist some sensorial communion with his environment by their unbearable odor. For the human dimension, Soutine chose to highlight the humblest employees of hotels and restaurants. These men have their own petty and miserable life beyond the disguise of their job. They are ugly and unintelligent in their tightly buttoned ill-fitting uniforms.
Soutine was hypersensitive. He did not plan to withstand the emotional stress of a sitting session with one of his few friends and could not become a worldly artist. Pastry cooks, hotel boys and valets interested him because he had no sympathy for them. Soutine never commented his art. I cannot imagine that he spent time in front of such guys. He was possibly working from memory.
On December 1922 the US collector Albert Barnes registers his Barnes Foundation as an educational institution dedicated to promoting the appreciation of fine arts and arboriculture.
In January 1923 Barnes is in Paris for acquiring additional paintings for his project. He is overwhelmed by a Pâtissier with huge ears at the home of the dealer Paul Guillaume and purchases it. In the same trip Barnes buys about 50 artworks to Soutine, about 20 for his collection and the rest for dissemination through resale, enabling the artist to reach fame and to greatly improve his life conditions.
The image of the Barnes Pâtissier ex Guillaume, oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm painted by Soutine ca 1919 is shared by Wikimedia.
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for reference
1922-1923 Le Petit Pâtissier
Orangerie
The portrait of another baker boy with a sad serving gaze, huge protruding ears and a pointed chin was executed by Soutine ca 1922-1923 probably for trade by Zbo. The line is sharper in an increased physical distorsion. The overcoat is an excuse for a study of the shades of red and green within the white and the handkerchief for a blood red.
Titled Le Pâtissier de Cagnes, this oil on canvas 65 x 50 cm was sold for £ 5M by Christie's on February 7, 2005, lot 30.
Another Petit pâtissier from the same period, 73 x 54 cm, is kept at the Musée de l'Orangerie. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Titled Le Pâtissier de Cagnes, this oil on canvas 65 x 50 cm was sold for £ 5M by Christie's on February 7, 2005, lot 30.
Another Petit pâtissier from the same period, 73 x 54 cm, is kept at the Musée de l'Orangerie. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1921 L'Homme au Foulard Rouge
2007 SOLD for £ 8.8M by Sotheby's
Portraits by Soutine in his Céret period are characterized by expressive poses whether the sitter is or not identified, bourgeois or poor, and by rich colors in the follow of Modigliani.
In a post-Cubist approach the artist tries slight deformations of face and body for strengthening the impression of a physical presence and individuality while restraining the narrative.
L'Homme au Foulard Rouge has a well lit frontal face with broad forehead and pointed chin, and a striking gaze including one fully circled eye.
This oil on canvas 100 x 70 cm was dated 1924 by some sources and ca 1921 by Christie's in 1997. The earlier date coming within the Céret period in the year after Modigliani's death is plausible.
It was sold for £ 8.8M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2007, lot 40. A comparable example is the portrait of the Swiss painter Emile Lejeune, dated 1922-1923.
In a post-Cubist approach the artist tries slight deformations of face and body for strengthening the impression of a physical presence and individuality while restraining the narrative.
L'Homme au Foulard Rouge has a well lit frontal face with broad forehead and pointed chin, and a striking gaze including one fully circled eye.
This oil on canvas 100 x 70 cm was dated 1924 by some sources and ca 1921 by Christie's in 1997. The earlier date coming within the Céret period in the year after Modigliani's death is plausible.
It was sold for £ 8.8M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2007, lot 40. A comparable example is the portrait of the Swiss painter Emile Lejeune, dated 1922-1923.
for reference
1922-1923 Portrait d'Emile Lejeune
Orangerie
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1923 Le Boeuf
2015 SOLD for $ 28M by Christie's
Despite his difficult and secretive behavior, Chaïm Soutine was not isolated in the Parisian art world. He had been a drinking companion of Modigliani and interested Zborowski. He decomposed the landscapes to better express the violence of colors, to the detriment not only of perspective but also of balance.
Visiting Paris in 1923, Barnes was overwhelmed by the highly original expressive approach of the young painter, but Soutine never reacts like everyone else. After this unexpected success, he moved his studio and rushed to La Villette to buy a beef carcass.
The series of images of carcasses, beef and afterwards other animals, is not a victory of the artist against hunger. He was indeed already threatened by his stomach ulcer that will kill him twenty years later.
The haunting red of blood and meat is the exacerbation of a child's nightmare. Soutine had been shocked by the contrast between the tragedy of the dead animal and the satisfaction of the butcher to offer a choice piece. His carcasses defy the balancing traditions of still life painting in a logical continuation of his compositions of landscapes.
Meat rots on its hook, offering new colors to the artist and alerting the neighbors who called the police but failed to halt this remarkable creative impulse. An oil on canvas 81 x 60 cm showing a beef carcass in close up view was sold for $ 28M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on May 11, 2015, lot 30A.
The views of a beef carcass are indeed an experience by the artist for expressing the colors of flesh and blood. The example above is a close up without the legs.
Visiting Paris in 1923, Barnes was overwhelmed by the highly original expressive approach of the young painter, but Soutine never reacts like everyone else. After this unexpected success, he moved his studio and rushed to La Villette to buy a beef carcass.
The series of images of carcasses, beef and afterwards other animals, is not a victory of the artist against hunger. He was indeed already threatened by his stomach ulcer that will kill him twenty years later.
The haunting red of blood and meat is the exacerbation of a child's nightmare. Soutine had been shocked by the contrast between the tragedy of the dead animal and the satisfaction of the butcher to offer a choice piece. His carcasses defy the balancing traditions of still life painting in a logical continuation of his compositions of landscapes.
Meat rots on its hook, offering new colors to the artist and alerting the neighbors who called the police but failed to halt this remarkable creative impulse. An oil on canvas 81 x 60 cm showing a beef carcass in close up view was sold for $ 28M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on May 11, 2015, lot 30A.
The views of a beef carcass are indeed an experience by the artist for expressing the colors of flesh and blood. The example above is a close up without the legs.
This beef painting is selling for the cost of about 400,000 rib-eyes http://t.co/Zcs8LR5a2C pic.twitter.com/MW7KxVGDEh
— Bon Appétit (@bonappetit) May 6, 2015
1924 Le Boeuf écorché
2006 SOLD for £ 7.8M by Christie's
The views of a beef carcass are an experience by Soutine for expressing the colors of flesh and blood. A close up example without the legs, oil on canvas 81 x 60 cm painted ca 1923, was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 11, 2015, lot 30A.
Displaying the same carcass in full view including the hooks and the surrounding of his new studio, Le Boeuf écorché looks like a crucifixion with its stretched limbs. This specific composition composition closely follows a slaughtered ox painted by Rembrandt.
This large size oil on canvas 130 x 75 cm painted ca 1924 was sold for £ 7.8M from a lower estimate of £ 4.2M by Christie's on February 6, 2006, lot 68. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Displaying the same carcass in full view including the hooks and the surrounding of his new studio, Le Boeuf écorché looks like a crucifixion with its stretched limbs. This specific composition composition closely follows a slaughtered ox painted by Rembrandt.
This large size oil on canvas 130 x 75 cm painted ca 1924 was sold for £ 7.8M from a lower estimate of £ 4.2M by Christie's on February 6, 2006, lot 68. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1924 La Communiante
2015 SOLD for $ 15.6M by Christie's
A single work was made by the Jewish artist Chaim Soutine on the theme of the Christian communion, a ritual ceremony for awakening children by providing the Eucharist.
This oil on canvas 82 x 48 cm painted ca 1924 was sold for $ 15.6M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on May 14, 2015, lot 29C.
The face of that young girl from a lower class is banal and bemused. The real theme is the application of translucent white improved by various pale hues on the wide surface of the ceremonial attire including dress, veil and gloves. Similar hues were also applied in the overcoats of the pastry cooks. This experience took place ca 1924, just after Soutine had been encouraged by the highlighting of his skills by Barnes.
Soutine never painted an identifiable Jewish subject. During his Céret phase he had observed elderly praying men as a sign of the Catholic faith in French culture. He will later paint also a few portraits of choir boys.
This oil on canvas 82 x 48 cm painted ca 1924 was sold for $ 15.6M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on May 14, 2015, lot 29C.
The face of that young girl from a lower class is banal and bemused. The real theme is the application of translucent white improved by various pale hues on the wide surface of the ceremonial attire including dress, veil and gloves. Similar hues were also applied in the overcoats of the pastry cooks. This experience took place ca 1924, just after Soutine had been encouraged by the highlighting of his skills by Barnes.
Soutine never painted an identifiable Jewish subject. During his Céret phase he had observed elderly praying men as a sign of the Catholic faith in French culture. He will later paint also a few portraits of choir boys.
1924 La Femme en Rouge
2019 SOLD for $ 11M by Sotheby's
A highly independent artist, Chaim Soutine has his place in the creation of modern art. The distorsion of his landscapes at Céret are post-Cubist. His quest for rare colors are influenced by his late friend Modigliani. Their application in dyed fabrics, clothing and wallpaper, without a reference to nature, are reminiscent of Matisse.
Soutine also applies his distorsions to the human body, including the face. Femme en rose, oil on canvas 73 x 54 cm painted ca 1924, is kept at the Saint Louis Art Museum. It is made of red, coral and yellow within its full format.
Another seated woman from the same period was painted in a slightly larger size. That Femme en rouge, oil on canvas 91 x 65 cm, was sold for $ 11M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2019, lot 26. The colors mingle oranges and reds with additions of green. The twisted face with a large smile is friendly but does not look intelligent.
Soutine also applies his distorsions to the human body, including the face. Femme en rose, oil on canvas 73 x 54 cm painted ca 1924, is kept at the Saint Louis Art Museum. It is made of red, coral and yellow within its full format.
Another seated woman from the same period was painted in a slightly larger size. That Femme en rouge, oil on canvas 91 x 65 cm, was sold for $ 11M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2019, lot 26. The colors mingle oranges and reds with additions of green. The twisted face with a large smile is friendly but does not look intelligent.
for reference
1924 Femme en Rose
Saint Louis Art Museum
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1925 Le Chasseur de chez Maxim's
2012 SOLD for $ 9.4M by Sotheby's
In the last year of the war, Zborowski had moved from Paris to Cagnes-sur-Mer with Modigliani, Soutine and Foujita for keeping them safe. Far away from Zbo's clients, Modigliani made non-commercial portraits of children sitting front face on a chair with their personal, often shy, attitude. The beauty of the line and the balance of the composition make them masterpieces.
Soutine transfers that theme to boys in the typical occupationals of their age, cooks, grooms or valets. Their bored or unfriendly expression is fully different from the schoolboys of their age.
From the moment of the discovery of his art by Barnes, Soutine had some money in his pocket. He was able to take some meals at the fashionable Maxim's restaurant.
Le Chasseur de chez Maxim's (Maxim's Groom), oil on canvas 82 x 75 cm made circa 1925, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 6.7M on November 4, 2004, lot 24 and for $ 9.4M on May 2, 2012, lot 7. The groom boy is attired in a red cap and uniform over a non homogenous dark blue background.
Soutine transfers that theme to boys in the typical occupationals of their age, cooks, grooms or valets. Their bored or unfriendly expression is fully different from the schoolboys of their age.
From the moment of the discovery of his art by Barnes, Soutine had some money in his pocket. He was able to take some meals at the fashionable Maxim's restaurant.
Le Chasseur de chez Maxim's (Maxim's Groom), oil on canvas 82 x 75 cm made circa 1925, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 6.7M on November 4, 2004, lot 24 and for $ 9.4M on May 2, 2012, lot 7. The groom boy is attired in a red cap and uniform over a non homogenous dark blue background.
1927 Le Petit Pâtissier
2013 SOLD for $ 18M by Christie's
The portrait of apprentice pastry cooks is a recurring theme for Soutine. These boys engaged in a job that they have not chosen are a mirror of the difficulties of his own life. These young people are already ugly and sad. Their uniform reveals their lower class profession for the service of the rich.
One of the first versions astonishes Paul Guillaume and Dr. Barnes, ensuring the lasting fame of the artist, a fame of which he so rarely profited because of his ever dissatisfied nature.
On May 8, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 18M the sixth and final portrait of pastry cooks, painted ca 1927. This oil on canvas, 76 x 70 cm, is extraordinary for its emotional intensity and technical quality.
The malaise of the boy is visible from his sickly eye, pouting mouth and clumsy hands clutching the hips.
The artwork is at the intersection of Modigliani's ideal compositions, Picasso's pauperism in the blue period and Monet's chromatic subtlety within the white, and of course the nervousness of the brushwork is proper to Soutine.
One of the first versions astonishes Paul Guillaume and Dr. Barnes, ensuring the lasting fame of the artist, a fame of which he so rarely profited because of his ever dissatisfied nature.
On May 8, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 18M the sixth and final portrait of pastry cooks, painted ca 1927. This oil on canvas, 76 x 70 cm, is extraordinary for its emotional intensity and technical quality.
The malaise of the boy is visible from his sickly eye, pouting mouth and clumsy hands clutching the hips.
The artwork is at the intersection of Modigliani's ideal compositions, Picasso's pauperism in the blue period and Monet's chromatic subtlety within the white, and of course the nervousness of the brushwork is proper to Soutine.
Le Valet de Chambre
1
1927-1928
2010 SOLD for £ 7.9M by Sotheby's
Painted ca 1927-1928, Le Valet de Chambre by Soutine features a boy in the uniform of a hotel valet, in dark red with black sleeves and trousers. He is posing frontally with crossed arms, quietly seated in near full length on a wooden stool.
This oil on canvas 110 x 64 cm was sold for £ 7.9M by Sotheby's on June 22, 2010, lot 24. It had been previously owned by the communist billionaire Armand Hammer.
This oil on canvas 110 x 64 cm was sold for £ 7.9M by Sotheby's on June 22, 2010, lot 24. It had been previously owned by the communist billionaire Armand Hammer.
2
1928
2015 SOLD for £ 10.8M by Sotheby's
Painted ca 1928, a Valet de Chambre features the same boy in the same uniform as the example above. This closer view in three quarter length is more detailed in terms of facial lines, large ears and waiting expression. He bears a bow tie over his white shirt.
This oil on canvas 73 x 46 cm was sold for £ 10.8M from a lower estimate of £ 6.5M by Sotheby's on June 24, 2015, lot 31.
On November 16, 2016, Christie's sold for $ 6.5M Le Garçon d'étage (the floor groom), oil on canvas 78 x 67 cm painted ca 1928, lot 21 B. This character is decidedly unfriendly with too little eyes under thick eyebrows, prominent ears and the flattened nose of a boxer or brawler. He is no longer an apprentice but his age is indefinable. He is uncomfortable in his coat and his collar is crumpled.
This oil on canvas 73 x 46 cm was sold for £ 10.8M from a lower estimate of £ 6.5M by Sotheby's on June 24, 2015, lot 31.
On November 16, 2016, Christie's sold for $ 6.5M Le Garçon d'étage (the floor groom), oil on canvas 78 x 67 cm painted ca 1928, lot 21 B. This character is decidedly unfriendly with too little eyes under thick eyebrows, prominent ears and the flattened nose of a boxer or brawler. He is no longer an apprentice but his age is indefinable. He is uncomfortable in his coat and his collar is crumpled.
1931 La Femme entrant dans l'Eau
2014 SOLD for £ 5.1M by Christie's
Marcellin and Madeleine Castaing were very good friends to Soutine who made most of his art of the 1930s in their home near Chartres.
His style and themes changed. He resumed painting landscapes which he had given up after the Céret period. He painted people from life instead of imagination or memory.
Soutine was a lifelong admirer of Rembrandt and a frequent visitor to Amsterdam. Wishing to make a modern Bathsheba or Suzanne, he painted La Femme entrant dans l'eau with a peasant woman named Marie lifting her skirts over the water in a local park. Her trivial pose may be considered as a forerunner to Dubuffet's Femmes. As narrated by the Castaings, it has been made during a summer storm with the artist "in the pelting rain, lit by flashes of lightning, drenched to the skin, and unaffected by the terrified screams of the model."
This oil in canvas 114 x 72 cm painted ca 1931 is also an example of his lifelong practice of rendering various hues within large white areas.
It was kept in the Castaing family until 2004 and sold for £ 5.1M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M by Christie's on February 4, 2014, lot 39.
His style and themes changed. He resumed painting landscapes which he had given up after the Céret period. He painted people from life instead of imagination or memory.
Soutine was a lifelong admirer of Rembrandt and a frequent visitor to Amsterdam. Wishing to make a modern Bathsheba or Suzanne, he painted La Femme entrant dans l'eau with a peasant woman named Marie lifting her skirts over the water in a local park. Her trivial pose may be considered as a forerunner to Dubuffet's Femmes. As narrated by the Castaings, it has been made during a summer storm with the artist "in the pelting rain, lit by flashes of lightning, drenched to the skin, and unaffected by the terrified screams of the model."
This oil in canvas 114 x 72 cm painted ca 1931 is also an example of his lifelong practice of rendering various hues within large white areas.
It was kept in the Castaing family until 2004 and sold for £ 5.1M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M by Christie's on February 4, 2014, lot 39.
