Chaim Soutine

Léopold Zborowski, Paris
Paul Guillaume, Paris
Julius Fleischmann, United States 
Mr. & Mrs. Adolphe A. Juvuler, New York (by 1953)
M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York
Gustave & Marion Ring, Washington, D.C.
Hadassah Medical Relief Association, Inc., Washington, D.C. (by 1988)
Sale: Christie's, New York, May 11, 1988, lot 43
Private Collection (by 1989)

Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery, Modern Paintings and Sculpture in Washington Collections, 1964, no. 97
Washington, D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Selections from the Collection of Marion and Gustave Ring, 1985-86, no. 47, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Pierre Courthion, Soutine. Peintre du déchirant, Lausanne, 1972, fig. B, illustrated p. 292
Maurice Tuchman, Esti Dunow & Klaus Perls, Chaim Soutine, Catalogue Raisonné, vol. ll, Cologne, 1993, no. 128, illustrated in color p. 699

This painting had been recently well restored and should be hung as is. The canvas has been lined using glue as an adhesive. However, the lining is not perfectly restraining three lines in the paint layer, one in the upper right, another running across the top of the head and the other running down through the hair on the left side. These lines seem to indicate that the painting was torn; the restorations which are clearly visible under ultraviolet light, would suggest this. However, the paint on either side of these cuts is period and in very nice condition, considering that Soutine's paint layers have a tendency to be less than beautifully preserved. The paint above the shoulders in a little pressed because of the lining, but changing the lining is not recommended, although perhaps the damages should be cleaned and the fills revised. Nonetheless, apart from the structural issues surrounding the tear in the canvas, the picture is in respectable condition and all of the abrasion and eccentricity visible particularly in the face is original. The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Portrait de femme de face exemplifies the extraordinary talents of Chaim Soutine, one of the most innovative portraitists of the early 20th century. Rather than seeking glamorous models of high social status, Soutine instead turned to everyday people as a source of inspiration for his most successful works. Many of the models who posed for his pictures were relative unknowns from the working class, such as butchers, page boys, waiters and maids. In his wildly expressive and eccentric depictions of these figures, Soutine is able to transform the appearance of his models from the commonplace to the truly outstanding. He achieves that effect in this arresting portrait of a woman painted circa 1929. The deliberate lack of detail takes the viewer's focus away from the potential narrative of the painting, and centers our attention on the pure monumentality of the picture and the physical and emotional power of the portrait.

"Soutine's insistence on the physical particularity of his subject, together with this move towards more anonymous sitters, demonstrates his resistance to completely losing himself in the subjective aspects of the portrait experience. This resistance to a complete union between painter and model is also felt in the way Soutine's figures 'pose' before him and us, open to our penetrating scrutiny, but somehow indifferent to the artist's presence... It is the tension between their seeming detachment, on the one hand, and an awareness of Soutine's personal involvement with them, on the other, that heightens the expressive charge of these figures" (M. Tuchmann, E. Dunow & K. Perls, op. cit., pp. 509-510).