Chaim Soutine

Chaim Soutine was a highly influential modern painter whose emotionally charged works bridged early twentieth-century Expressionism and later developments in figurative art. Known for his distorted forms, turbulent brushwork, and intense colour, Soutine created paintings that conveyed psychological anguish and physical tension rather than visual harmony. Although associated with the Parisian avant-garde, his work remained deeply personal and resistant to formal categorisation.
Soutine’s art focuses primarily on portraits, landscapes, and still lifes, often rendered with dramatic exaggeration and visceral energy. Largely unrecognised in his early career, he achieved success later in life and posthumous acclaim as a major figure in modern painting.

Early Life and Background

Chaim Soutine was born in 1893 in Smilavichy, a small town in what was then the Russian Empire (now Belarus), into a poor Orthodox Jewish family. One of several children, he grew up in conditions of severe hardship. Traditional religious restrictions on image-making shaped his early experiences and contributed to his sense of alienation and rebellion.
Despite family opposition, Soutine pursued drawing from a young age. His determination to become an artist led him to leave home and seek formal training, marking the beginning of a life defined by displacement, struggle, and artistic obsession.

Artistic Training and Move to Paris

Soutine studied art in Vilnius before moving to Paris in 1913, where he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts. Paris at the time was the epicentre of modern art, attracting artists from across Europe. Soutine settled in the Montparnasse district, living in extreme poverty and social isolation.
He formed close friendships with fellow émigré artists, most notably Amedeo Modigliani, who recognised Soutine’s talent and encouraged his work. Modigliani introduced him to influential dealers and collectors, helping to establish Soutine’s early presence in the Paris art world.

Early Style and Influences

Soutine’s early paintings already displayed the intense emotional charge that would define his mature work. He rejected the rational structure of Cubism and the decorative colour of Fauvism, favouring instead a raw, instinctive approach to painting. His influences included Rembrandt, Francisco Goya, and Dutch Baroque painters, particularly their use of dramatic light and expressive realism.
Rather than seeking formal balance, Soutine embraced distortion and instability. Figures appear twisted, faces warped, and landscapes bent under invisible pressure. This approach reflected not only aesthetic choice but also Soutine’s internal emotional state, shaped by poverty, illness, and psychological distress.

Portraits and the Human Figure

Portraiture occupies a central place in Soutine’s oeuvre. He frequently painted service workers such as bellhops, pastry cooks, maids, and choirboys, depicting them in formal poses traditionally reserved for elite sitters. These figures are rendered with exaggerated proportions, tense postures, and intense expressions, transforming ordinary individuals into monumental, almost tragic presences.
Soutine’s portraits are not concerned with likeness in a conventional sense. Instead, they convey psychological tension through colour, gesture, and distortion. Faces often appear strained or asymmetrical, suggesting emotional vulnerability and inner turmoil.
Key characteristics of Soutine’s portrait style include:

• Distorted anatomy and exaggerated gesture
• Thick, urgent brushstrokes
• Intense, often clashing colours
• Emphasis on emotional presence rather than realism

Landscapes and Emotional Space

Soutine’s landscapes are among his most radical works. Painted primarily during periods spent in the French countryside, these scenes depict villages, roads, trees, and buildings that appear to twist and surge with energy. Perspective is destabilised, and forms seem to pulse or writhe, creating a sense of movement and unease.
Unlike traditional landscape painting, which often aims to represent tranquillity or natural beauty, Soutine’s landscapes function as emotional spaces. Nature appears unsettled and restless, mirroring the artist’s psychological intensity. These works demonstrate how Soutine transformed external environments into expressions of inner experience.

Still Lifes and Carcass Paintings

Perhaps Soutine’s most striking and controversial works are his still lifes featuring animal carcasses. Inspired by Rembrandt’s Slaughtered Ox, Soutine painted sides of beef, poultry, and game with extraordinary intensity. These paintings confront viewers with themes of mortality, decay, and raw physicality.
Soutine reportedly kept animal carcasses in his studio for extended periods while working on these paintings, enduring their stench in pursuit of authenticity. The resulting works are visceral and confrontational, with thick paint applied in sweeping strokes that emphasise flesh, blood, and mass.
These still lifes are significant not as representations of food or domestic objects but as meditations on life, death, and suffering, rendered with uncompromising honesty.

Technique and Use of Colour

Soutine’s technique is marked by energetic, often violent brushwork. Paint is applied thickly, sometimes directly from the tube, creating heavily textured surfaces. His compositions appear unstable, with forms pressed tightly into the picture plane, enhancing their sense of urgency.
Colour plays an expressive rather than descriptive role. Reds, blues, and greens are intensified to heighten emotional impact rather than to reflect natural appearance. This approach aligns Soutine with Expressionism, though his work remains distinct in its focus on physical substance and emotional extremity.

Recognition and Patronage

For many years, Soutine lived in obscurity and poverty. His fortunes changed in the early 1920s when the American collector Albert C. Barnes acquired a large number of his works. This patronage provided financial security and introduced Soutine’s paintings to an international audience.
Despite increased recognition, Soutine remained reclusive and struggled with anxiety and ill health. He found public attention deeply uncomfortable and continued to live a largely isolated life, focused obsessively on painting.

War Years and Death

As a Jewish artist living in occupied France during the Second World War, Soutine was forced into hiding. His health deteriorated significantly during this period, exacerbated by stress and lack of medical care. In 1943, he died following surgery for a perforated ulcer.
Soutine’s death at the age of 50 curtailed a career of intense productivity and emotional depth. In the years that followed, his reputation continued to grow, with critics and artists recognising his profound impact on modern figurative painting.