Soutine, Chaim

(born 1893/94?, Smilovichi, near Minsk, Russian Empire—died Aug. 9, 1943, Paris, Fr.) Russian-born French painter. After studying art in Vilnius, he went to Paris in 1913 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. An art dealer enabled him to paint for three years in southern France, where his mature style emerged. His highly individualistic style, stimulated by Expressionism, is characterized by thick impasto, agitated brushwork, convulsive compositional rhythms, and disturbing psychological content. Best known are his studies of choirboys and cooks, his series of page boys, and his paintings of hung poultry and beef carcasses, which vividly convey the colour and luminosity of putrescence.

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