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Additional Views

Oct 16, 2007

Feb 20, 2009

Still Life with Rayfish

1923

Chaïm Soutine

(Russian, 1893–1943)

Russia (worked in France), 20th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 111.8 x 94.3 x 11.8 cm (44 x 37 1/8 x 4 5/8 in.); Unframed: 80.5 x 64.5 cm (31 11/16 x 25 3/8 in.)

Gift of the Hanna Fund 1951.357

Location

On view at:

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Sep 1, 2023 - Jan 14, 2024

Description

Inspired by J. S. Chardin’s 1725–26 still life of a stingray at the Musée du Louvre, Chaim Soutine reinterpreted the theme in a turbulent, luminescent manner. Every line and form undulates as if propelled by some unseen force. Tied up on two points, as if being tortured or crucified, the stingray assumes an expression of almost human anguish, transforming it into a powerful metaphor for suffering, perhaps referring to Soutine’s own life as a poor Jewish artist who emigrated from Belarus to Paris in 1913.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed lower right: "Soutine"

Provenance

By 1927-1928

(Paul Guillaume [1891-1953], Paris, probably sold to Jacques Doucet ¹

1928-1929

Jacques Doucet [1853-1929], Paris, presumably by inheritance to his wife Jeanne Roger Doucet ²

Until 1951

(Cesar de Hauke, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1951-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Provenance Footnotes

¹One of Soutine’s dealers, Guillaume handled much of the artist’s output in the 1920s. Guillaume also had his own collection, most of which was acquired by the French state in the 1960s and is now at the Musée de l’Orangerie. It is unclear in which capacity Guillaume handled the Cleveland Soutine.

²Doucet, the influential French couturier, amassed an extensive art, furniture, and book collection. When in his collection the Soutine hung next to Picasso’s Tete de l’Arlequin and Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon.

Citations

Raynal, Maurice. Modern French Painters. 1928.

Tuchman, Maurice, Esti Dunow, and Klaus Perls. Chaim Soutine (1893-1943): catalogue raisonné = Werkverzeichnis. Köln: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1993.

Waldemar, George. Soutine. Paris: Éditions Le Triangle, 1928.

Tuchman, Maurice, Esti Dunow, and Klaus Perls. Chaim Soutine (1893-1943): catalogue raisonné = Werkverzeichnis. Köln: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1993.

Musée du Petit Palais (Paris). Les maitres de l'art indépendant: 1895-1937. Paris: Editions Arts & Métiers Graphiques, 1937.

Tuchman, Maurice, Esti Dunow, and Klaus Perls. Chaim Soutine (1893-1943): catalogue raisonné = Werkverzeichnis. Köln: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1993.

Ditner, David C. "Chaim Soutine's Still Life with Rayfish." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 2 (1980): 41-49. Reproduced: p. 42; Mentioned: p. 41-49 www.jstor.org

Exhibition history

In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).

Soutine. Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, France (April 27-September 17, 1973).

La Nature Morte de Brueghel à Soutine (The Still Life of Brueghel in Soutine). Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France (organizer) (May 5-September 1, 1978).

Chaïm Soutine. Museo d'Arte Moderna (organizer) (March 12-June 18, 1995).

Chaim Soutine. Israel Museum, 91710 Jerusalem, Israel (April 26-August 14, 1998); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (September 17, 1998-January 3, 1999); The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (February 14-May 2, 1999).

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).

Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943), l'ordre du chaos. Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, France (October 2, 2012-January 21, 2013).

Chaïm Soutine - Against the Current. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, D-40102 Düsseldorf, Germany (organizer) (September 1, 2023-January 14, 2024); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humbelbaek, Denmark (February 9-July 14, 2024); Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland (August 16-December 1, 2024).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Still Life with Rayfish|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.357|author=Chaïm Soutine|year=1923|access-date=04 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Still Life with Rayfish

Still Life with Rayfish

Chaïm Soutine

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