Little pastry chef

This "Little pastry chef" marked the beginning of the glory of Chaim Soutine and end his misery. It in 1922, praised the American collector Dr. albert Barnes, actually, at first it consultant Paul Guillaume. Guillaume bought the painting and showed Barnes "unheard of, charming pastry chef from flesh and blood, with a huge, wonderful ear, amazing and perfectly reproduced". Barnes was delighted, and immediately bought another 50 works previously bestowable artist for his Foundation in Marine.

For ten years, Soutine wrote numerous "Small pastry" (1, 2, 3).One of them in 2013, went at Christie's auction for $ 18 million.

Soutine's portraits are distinguished by a particular deformation of the lines. He did this deliberately, stating that "warp — that's life. The art of Raphael, of Titian, of course, absolutely, but boring to death. It's a beauty" (the last word invested a huge dose of disgust).

Written Soutine portraits comparable to the works Nolde,Kirchner. Often draw analogies with van Goghimplying the power and the fury of the smear.

Pastry barely fit on the canvas, as if the place is too small to Express the sweeping expression of the artist feelings. It seems that Soutine wrote in a state of exaltation, and therefore some traits in his portraits are exaggerated – in this case, it's a huge protruding ear.

This portrait of the "Little pastry chef" is a masterpiece from the point of view of color. White color for Soutine – my second favorite after red. Here you can see the incredible mix of shades and variations on its theme. Such an abundance of silky, creamy, blue, pink, beige, and those that and names not invented, shades of white even recognized as involving the operation of this color, Maurice Utrillo might have envied (1, 2).

Author: Alain Esaulova