Happy Birthday Chaim Soutine

Chaim Soutine

1893 –1943

Soutine’s’ portraits of uniformed workers have fascinated me. Each sitter’s personality effortlessly oozing from the painting. The visually impacting formats, bold colours and lively surfaces of the cooks, waiters and bellboys drew me at once to recreate them.

Chaim Soutine was one of the most significant painters in the 1920s and 1930s.

He moved to Paris at aged 19, residing in the artists area of Montparnasse, and soon became firm friends with the artist Amedeo Modigliani.

Soutine, inspired by Rembrandt and the old masters, studied in the Louvre and was a major contributor to the expressionist movement, developing his style of Abstract expressionism.

Soutine’s’ work paved the way for later avant-gardes, and his works had a direct influence most notably on Francis Bacon and Jean Dubuffet. His unique style went on to inspire many more.

The collection of Soutine’s portraits "Cooks, Waiters and Bellboys" is displayed at the Courtauld until the 21st January. My studies of the portraits can be viewed and purchased from my website.