View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia
“Someone Has Killed Soutine!”
Chaim Soutine once horrified his neighbours in Paris by keeping an animal carcass in his studio to model for his painting called, not surprisingly, Carcass of Beef. The stench drove them to send for the police, whom Soutine promptly lectured on the relative importance of art over hygiene. There’s a story that Marc Chagall saw the blood from the carcass leak out onto the corridor outside Soutine’s room, and rushed out screaming, ‘Someone has killed Soutine.’[4]
Chaim Soutine, Self Portrait, 1918, Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection, on long-term loan to the Princeton University Art Museum, Source: wikipedia.
Who is Chaim Soutine?
Chaïm Soutine (1893 – 1943) was a Russian painter of Belarusian Jewish origin who emigrated to Paris in 1913. He made a major contribution to the expressionist movement while living in Paris.
There, he became friends with other Russian Jewish artists, such as Marc Chagall and Amedeo Modigliani. While he did not adhere to one particular style, he gravitated to the expressive work of El Greco, Vincent van Gogh, and the Fauves. [emphasis added]
At first inspired by classic painting in the European tradition, like Rembrandt, Chardin[2] and Courbet, Soutine developed an individual style more concerned with shape, color, and texture over representation. These preferences served as a bridge between more traditional approaches and the developing form of Abstract Expressionism.
Consider “View of Cagnes”
According to The Met, Soutine is “best known for his dramatic figure and still-life paintings,” though he also made landscapes. They continue:
From 1923 to 1925, the artist spent time in the mountain village of Cagnes along the French Riviera, where he made this canvas. The blue, green, and ocher palette here suggests the serene atmosphere of the region, while the swirling, energetic brushwork gives the village a distorted, pulsating quality.
Click For Enlarged Detail
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia
Chaim Soutine, Self Portrait, 1918, Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection, on long-term loan to the Princeton University Art Museum, Source: wikipedia.
A Beginning and An End in Paris
Between 1935 – 1937 Chaim Soutine had successful exhibitions in Chicago and Paris, where he was at last recognized as a great painter. Soon afterwards, German troops invaded France, and the Jewish Soutine spent his remaining life trying to escape from the Gestapo, even sheltering outdoors in forests. Suffering from a bleeding stomach ulcer, he left a safe hiding place to have unsuccessful emergency surgery in Paris. On August 9, 1943, Chaim Soutine died of a perforated ulcer.
Making Pigments Breathe Light
Perhaps Jacques Lipchitz (Nov 1988) quoted in Smithsonian Magazine best describes the artistic contributions of Chaim Soutine:
He [Soutine] was one of the rare examples in our day.. ..
a painter who could make his pigments breathe light.
It is something which cannot be learned or acquired.
It is a gift of God.
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
Details
View of Cagnes
Artist:Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris)
Date:ca. 1924–25
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm)
Credit Line:The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997
View of Cagnes (ca. 1924–25) by Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris), Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 28 7/8 in. (60.3 × 73.3 cm), Credit Line: The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997, The Met., Image Source: Wikimedia, (detail).
Quote of w:Jacques Lipchitz, in Soutine: The power and the fury of an eccentric genius, Stanley Meisler, published in ‘Smithsonian Magazine’, November 1988, from Wikiquote, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chaim_Soutine, (accessed December 4, 2018).
He is new to me, and I can certainly understand why you love his work. I am looking forward to learning more about him. The museum in Ceret just appeared on my bucket list. 🙂 Do you have a favorite painting of his?
At Sunnyside - Where Truth and Beauty Meet 
I love Soutine. He may be my favorite artist of all time. There is a wonderful museum of his work in Ceret, in southwestern France.
LikeLiked by 2 people
He is new to me, and I can certainly understand why you love his work. I am looking forward to learning more about him. The museum in Ceret just appeared on my bucket list. 🙂 Do you have a favorite painting of his?
LikeLike
He is very new to me, thanks to you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
New to me also, Luda. Now I will need to know much more about him. 😎
LikeLiked by 1 person