Chaim Soutine, 1883-1943

Chaim Soutine was a painter of enormous power whose works are intensely expressive and, at the same time, highly structured. This dissertation examines Soutine's paintings, stressing the importance he accords both formal structure and subject matter. Through stylistic analysis of paintings and discussion of creative process, Soutine's development is shown to be a deliberate and consistent one. There is a consistency in focus and priorities, in the painting process itself and in the vision of the artist, that carries through and into certain shifts in style of subject. In both his development of formal structure (handling of composition and space) and his evolution toward a specific personal imagery, the movement is increasingly toward clarity and concentrated expression. It is in this context that Soutine's involvement with the art of the past is seen--as a positive way of reinforcing and further refining and defining his unique vision. The introductory chapter reviews the existing literature and presents many of the misconceptions and romanticized stereotypes that have commonly been attributed to Soutine and his work. The following chapter contains a discussion of Soutine's biography and character, and its relationship to his art, with a summary chronological analysis of the paintings. Chapter II deals with Soutine's creative process--his insistence on working from life and his actual painting experience. It examines Soutine's closeness to what he paints as well as his tendency to establish an emotional and aesthetic distance. The following three chapters deal more specifically with the three subject areas of Soutine's art--landscape, still life, and portraiture. Within each chapter, the independent development of that particular genre is treated. Again, emphasis is placed on formal evolution and development of personal subject imagery, and of course, on the interaction of the two. Each chapter draws upon Soutine's background (particularly his orthodox Jewish "shtetl" roots) and his involvement with "Old Master" painting. The concluding chapter speaks of Soutine's position and influence vis-a-vis his contemporaries and painters after his time, and his place within these contexts historically and artistically.