Portrait of a Boy
Artist
Chaïm Soutine
(Russian, 1893–1943)
Dateabout 1928
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 43.6 x 38.1 cm (17 3/16 x 15 in.)
frame: 57.8 × 49.8 × 6.4 cm (22 3/4 × 19 5/8 × 2 1/2 in.)
frame: 57.8 × 49.8 × 6.4 cm (22 3/4 × 19 5/8 × 2 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineStoddard Acquisition Fund
Terms
Object number1995.16
Label TextBorn into a poor Russian-Jewish family, Soutine went to Paris at the age of seventeen, where he soon associated with Chagall and Modigliani. He constantly destroyed or reworked his paintings so that it is almost impossible to trace his development.
Like many of Soutine's portraits from the 1920s, this work combines a dominant color and expressive brushwork to create a rather disturbing image that is perhaps more a reflection of the artist than the sitter. Like a number of his artist friends, Soutine led a rather dissipated life; his many moments of anguish and self-destruction are reflected in his work.ProvenanceProfessor Nelson Goodman, Weston, MAOn View
On view
