Monday 2 October 2017

The Courtauld Gallery - Opening this month - Soutine’s Portraits: Cooks, Waiters and Bellboys

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The Courtauld Gallery October 2017

Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943) was one of the leading painters in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, seen by many as the heir to Vincent van Gogh. During the early 1920s, Soutine became fascinated by the cooks and waiting staff of French hotels and restaurants, dressed in boldly coloured uniforms. Over the next decade, these humble models sat for him in Paris and the south of France.
Soutine’s Portraits: Cooks, Waiters & Bellboys is the first exhibition in the UK on Soutine in over 35 years and the very first to explore this remarkable group of portraits. This series of works offers powerful images of a new social class of service personnel, who moved from aristocratic households of past centuries to the luxury hotels and restaurants that arose in the late 19th and early 20th century. These overlooked figures from France’s most fashionable places of leisure, including the famous Maxim’s restaurant in Paris, appealed to Soutine’s idea that profound emotion and a deep sense of humanity could be found in such modest sitters.
These works played a key role in establishing Soutine’s reputation and turned him from a struggling painter into a wealthy one. When he started the series, Soutine, an immigrant from Russia, was living in near-poverty alongside other artists, including his close friend Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920). But the portraits of hotel and restaurant workers soon caught the eye of major collectors, such as the American Albert Barnes. They are today considered amongst Soutine’s greatest achievements.

This exhibition has been sponsored by:
The Friends of The Courtauld
The Garcia Family Foundation

Exhibition  events
Join us for a curator’s talk to explore the paintings, themes and ideas in Soutine’s Portraits: Cooks, Waiters & Bellboys.
Included in admission
Explore highlights from Soutine’s Portraits: Cooks, Waiters & Bellboysand other works from the permanent collection as they are examined by students and researchers from The Courtauld Institute of Art.
Included in admission
Listen to performances inspired by the exhibition or the permanent collection.
Included in admission
Study Day
11.00–16.00, Registration 10.30
Saturday 25 November 2017
£45 (£40 concessions)
Booking essential
Join exhibition curators Dr Karen Serres and Dr Barnaby Wright and Simonetta Fraquelli, co-curator of Tate’s forthcoming Modigliani exhibition, as they discuss Chaïm Soutine’s place in 20th-century art as well as his relationship with masters old and new. The novelty of Soutine’s series of hotel and restaurant workers will be explored and put in context. The day includes the screening of a documentary film that sheds light on this elusive artist’s life and work, and a discussion with the filmmaker, Murielle Levy.
2 October 12.00-17.30
3 - 6 October 2047,  10.00 - 17.30

The Courtauld Book Sale is here once again! We will be selling thousands of art books (and others) at bargain prices to support student travel grants. Last year's sale made over £40,000 through the generous donations of alumni and private individuals. Please help us make this another amazing year.
The Courtauld Recommends
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7 Sept 2017-3 Jan 2018   
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The Wellcome Collection
Open until 14 Jan 2018
8 Nov 2017 – 4 Feb 2018
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An exhibition exploring contemporary artistic and stylistic representations of the north of England featuring contemporary photography, fashion and multimedia work, which continues to influence new generations of photographers, artists and designers.