Chaïm Soutine

1893 (Smilovitchi (actuelle Biélorussie)) / 1943 ( Paris)

Indifferent to all the artistic movements in turmoil during the first half of the twentieth century, Soutine's art would focus on the affects of a deep self. His still lifes would be seen through the eyes of a hungry man, and the hallucinatory character of his skinny fish and bluish-necked chickens would derive from his violent stomach ailments due to prolonged fasting, which would lead to the ulcer that killed him. As for his strict adherence to the great canonical themes of the Academy, namely landscape, portrait and still life, this apparent lack of imagination should be seen as the mark of pure classicism. Even while watching men fall, Soutine remains stable on his two legs and his two eyes to build his original chaos, calculating his focal points as if he were starting over the creation of the world.



Artist's issues


Issue 49






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