Landscape with Flight of Stairs

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Chäim Soutine , Russian, 1893-1943

Title

Datec.1922

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

81.5 x 65 cm

Signedlower left: Soutine

Credit LinePurchased, 1984 (Shaw Fund)

Object numberNGI.4485

DescriptionChaïm Soutine was born in a poor Jewish ghetto in the village of Smilovitchi, near Minsk. He studied art at Vilna before moving to Paris in 1913, where he attended the studio of Fernand Cormon. In Paris he became closely associated with a circle of artists that included Amedeo Modigliani, Marc Chagall and Jacques Lipchitz.
Between 1919 and 1922, Soutine visited Céret in the French Pyrenees. During this period he made a series of impressive paintings in response to the mountainous terrain. These works were highly expressionistic and executed with a heavy impasto in earthy olive and ochre tones. In 1922 and 1923 he visited Cagnes on the Côte d’Azur, a village frequented by artists of the Parisian avant-garde and often described as the ‘Montmartre of the French Riviera’. It was there that Soutine is thought to have painted this work. At the centre of the scene a man makes his descent down a steep flight of steps. The low viewpoint, swirling sky and bending trees serve to heighten the dizzying perspective. Soutine often used a strong vertical device such as a path, a tree or a still-life element as a means of anchoring his compositions; in this instance, the slanting yellow rails stabilise the turbulent landscape.

March 2016
ProvenanceThe Artist; purchased, Mr Oscar Miestchaninoff; purchased from Mrs Oscar Miestchaninoff by Crane Kalman Gallery, London, 1963; Mrs Margaret Sangster, Cheshire; purchased, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, 1984 Exhibition HistorySoutine, County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1968

Soutine, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1968

Soutine, Marlborough Fine Art, New York, 1973

Soutine, Hayward Gallery, London; Westfalisches Landesmuseum, Münster, 1982

Acquisitions 1982-83, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 22 March - 6 May 1984

Chaim Soutine, Odakyu Grand Gallery, 18 November - 7 December 1992; Nara Sogo Museum of Art, 27 January - 28 February 1933; Kasama Nichido Museum of Art, 5 March - 4 April 1993; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, April - May 1993

French 19th and 20th Century Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland: Corot to Picasso, Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, 5 September-17 September 1996; Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, 10 October-22 October 1996; Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, Yamanashi, 26 October-2 December 1996; Daimaru Museum, Umeda,Osaka, 22 January-9 February 1997; Aomori Municpal Gallery of Art, Aomori, 2 April-20 April 1997

Label TextSoutine moved to Paris in 1913, where he became associated with a circle of artists that included Amedeo Modigliani, Marc Chagall, and Jacques Lipchitz. In 1922 and 1923, he visited Cagnes on the Côte d’Azur, a village frequented by avant-garde artists. It was there that he painted this Expressionistic work. At the centre of the scene, a man descends a steep flight of steps. The low viewpoint, swirling sky and bending trees, heighten the dizzying perspective. Soutine often used a strong vertical device to anchor his compositions; here, the slanting yellow rails create a stable focal point within the turbulent landscape.