Soutine's Portraits: Cooks, Waiters and Bellboys

This major international loan exhibition of works by Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943) will be the first show on the artist in the United Kingdom in 35 years. Soutine was one of the leading painters in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, part of the influential ‘School of Paris’ and seen by many as the heir to Van Gogh. The exhibition will focus on a group of remarkable modern portraits that helped establish Soutine’s name and reputation.

Soutine’s progress is the ultimate rags-to-riches story. Born in Russia (modern-day Belarus), Soutine arrived penniless in Paris in 1913 and lived in poverty in Montparnasse alongside other immigrant artists, including his closest friend Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920). In the early 1920s, Soutine became fascinated by the cooks and waiting staff of French hotels and restaurants, attired in boldly coloured uniforms. Over the next decade, these humble figures sat for the artist in Paris and the south of France. This exhibition brings together 21 of the most important paintings from this series, drawn from public and private collections around the world. It will also be the first thematic exhibition anywhere on Soutine.