Soutine Landscape

Landscape at Cagnes, ca.1923
Chaim Soutine (Lithuanian, 1883-1943)
Oil on canvas
23 13/16 x 28 3/4 in.
Art Institute of Chicago 1947.114
Image: artic.edu

It is becoming more common for me to discover the glorious landscapes of painters who I've known for very different subject matter. A similar find is the landscapes of Egon Schiele. I am more familiar with his work in general. Chaim Soutine is an artist I've always known but have only ever been able to associate with raw meat, sounds glorious doesn't it? I first encountered Soutine at my home art gallery, the Albright Knox, and passed by Soutine's Side of Beef, c.1925 (image: Britannica) on every trip to the museum. The artist's name never locked into my head until my graduate school (though I am sure I saw some more of his "food" paintings over the years. I have a love for expressionism and while I was not particularly fond of the subject matter (never have been of food in painting, despite my love for the real thing) I did start to find Soutine's style of painting attractive and interesting. A quick browse through a catalog of his work recently prompted me to take up some more research into his work and I discovered his glorious landscapes. Rich and twisted and dramatic with their skewed perspective and rich application of painting, I would love to live in any of the towns and cities he depicts.

His portraits are wonderful too, you will see a very strong affinity with those of Amedeo Modigliani (a friend).