Poulet sur fond bleu

The subject of food remained ever-present in Soutine’s work, whether it be in his portraits of cooks and waiters, or in his still lifes of poultry, fish or beef. In the present Poulet sur fond bleu, a single chicken hangs from its neck, beak ajar, against an abstract background of blues, reds and whites, forcing the focus on the central element. Although Soutine’s early still lifes often include various objects or a setting for the food being presented, the fowl or rabbit of the 1920s differ—“they are presented to us without any explanatory or supporting setting. Rather than taking its meaning and place in combination with other forms, the object now takes its place alone, in the spotlight, as the sole subject of the painting. This approach is closely allied to portraiture” (M. Tuchman and E. Dunow, Chaim Soutine, Catalogue Raisonné, Cologne, 1993, vol. I, p. 339). In these works, as in Soutine’s life, there appears to be a constant battle with food. Indeed, the artist suffered his entire life of stomach ulcers, such that the many foods he represented were prohibited to him. A similar tension exists in his still lifes—while the animals are presented as a vivid emblem of death, they are also presented for their life-sustaining qualities.
Beyond his personal relationship with food, Soutine ‘s focus on still lifes was strongly influenced by his early life in France. Following his move to Paris in 1913 at the age of twenty, Soutine was profoundly influenced by formative trips to the Musée du Louvre, which exposed the artist to Dutch still lifes, most crucially Rembrandt’s Le Boeuf écorché (Musée du Louvre, Paris).