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Date: 1893-1943

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Description: Painted circa 1934.

oil on canvas

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Dimensions: 73 by 92.4cm.

28 3/4 by 36 3/8 in.

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Provenance: THE COLLECTION OF MADELEINE CASTAING FROM THE ESTATE OF MICHEL CASTAING

Marcellin and Madeleine Castaing, Paris (acquired from the artist)
Michel Castaing, Paris (son of the above)
Thence by descent to the present owners

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Exhibited: New York, Carroll Carstairs Gallery, Paintings by Soutine, 1940, no. 4
Cincinnati, Modern Art Society, Art Museum, Expressionism, 1941
Washington, D.C., Phillips Memorial Gallery, Six Loan Exhibitions: Soutine, 1943, no. 1
New York, Niveau Gallery, Soutine, 1944, no. 10
Boston, Institute of Modern Art, Chagall and Soutine, 1945, no. 43
Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries, Soutine, 1973, no. 66, illustrated in colour in the catalogue (titled Femme couchée and as dating from 1932)
Milan, Galleria Bergamini, Chaim Soutine (1893-1943). I Dipinti della Collezione Castaing, 1987, no. 8, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Chartres, Musée de Chartres, Soutine, 1989, no. 63, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Lugano, Museo d'Arte Moderna, Chaim Soutine, 1995, no. 76, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
New York, The Jewish Museum; Los Angeles, County Museum of Art and Cincinnati, Art Museum, An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine, 1998-99, no. 52, illustrated in the catalogue

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Published: "New York Sees Soutine, Tragic Lithuanian", in Art Digest, vol. 14, no. 14, New York, 15th April 1940, p. 9, illustrated
Jeannette Lowe, "The New and the Old Soutine. Cross-Section of the Emotional Painter", in Art News, vol. 38, no. 29, New York, 20th April 1940, p. 11, illustrated (titled Femme en rouge sous un arbre and as dating from 1932)
Elizabeth McCausland, "Exhibitions in New York. Three Frenchmen: Rouault, Soutine, Derain", in Parnassus, vol. 12, no. 5, New York, May 1940, p. 40, mentioned
Melville Upton, Sun, New York, 14th October 1944, mentioned
Rosamund Frost, "In Memoriam: Soutine Over 20 Years", in Art News, vol. 43, no. 13, New York, 15th-31st October 1944, p. 14, mentioned
Soutine (exhibition catalogue), Museum of Modern Art, New York and Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1950, p. 113, listed; p. 89, illustrated
"A Study of Soutine", in The Times Literary Supplement, no. 2570, London, 4th May 1951, p. 270, mentioned
Paolo D'Ancona, Some Aspects of Expressionism: Modigliani, Chagall, Soutine, Pascin, Milan, 1954, p. 64, mentioned
Waldemar George, Soutine, Paris, 1959, n.p., mentioned
David Sylvester, "Soutine", in Art News, vol. 62, no. 6, New York, October 1963, p. 23, mentioned; p. 25, no. 9, illustrated
Andrew Forge, Soutine, London, 1965, pp. 14 & 24, mentioned
Renata Negri, "Soutine", in L'Arte Moderna, vol. 10, no. 87, Milan, 1967, p. 237, illustrated
Henri Serouya, Soutine, Paris, 1967, mentioned
Pierre Courthion, Soutine. Peintre du déchirant, Lausanne, 1972, p. 280, fig. B, illustrated
Michel Conil Lacoste, "Le Tourment de Soutine", in Le Monde, Paris, 27th April 1973, mentioned
Edith Hoffman, "Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions: Soutine in Paris", in Burlington Magazine, vol. 115, no. 844, London, July 1973, p. 486, illustrated (as dating from 1932)
Isabelle Fontaine and Dominique Bozo, "Expositions, Orangerie des Tuileries, Soutine", in Revue du Louvre et des Musées de France, vol. 23, no. 3, Paris, 1973, p. 201, mentioned (as La femme couchée)
Pierre Lévy, Des Artistes et un collectionneur, 1976, p. 247, mentioned
Renata Negri, La Scuola di Parigi e i suoi protagonisti, Milan, 1977, p. 191, mentioned
Alfred Werner, Chaim Soutine, New York, 1977, p. 29, fig. 21, illustrated
Soutine (exhibition catalogue), Galleri Bellman, New York, 1983, p. 13, mentioned
Richard Shone, "Chartres: Soutine", in Burlington Magazine, vol. 131, no. 1041, London, December 1989, p. 867, mentioned
Maurice Tuchman, Esti Dunow and Klaus Perls, Chaim Soutine. Catalogue raisonné, Cologne, 1993, vol. II, p. 731, no. 151, illustrated in colour

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Notes: During the summers from 1930 to 1935, Soutine became a regular visitor to the house of his friends and patrons Marcellin and Madeleine Castaing at Lèves, Eure-et-Loire, close to Chartres (fig. 1). This became known as his 'Chartres period', when his mature work was characterised by an increased naturalism and an assured technique. One particular change that occurred during this time, exemplified by the present work, was the introduction of a background behind his models. Whereas in his earlier works the figures are painted against a flat, monochrome plane, in his Chartres paintings they are usually presented in a carefully depicted landscape. In La Sieste, the figure is seen in front of a large tree dominating the surroundings, still retaining the artist's customary deep blue that he often used for his backgrounds. Discussing Soutine's portraiture of the 1930s, Maurice Tuchman and Esti Dunow wrote:

"Indeed, in the later images, from the mid-1930s into the early 1940s, the figures are involved in a much more fluent interaction with their environment than previously. The background is no longer devoid of props. The figure takes its place in a real setting and is no longer completely self-contained. It may be completely engrossed in itself, its thoughts and its mood, but it does definitely exist in combination with other objects, or engaged in activity, or set in landscape. This interaction is consistent with the landscapes of the later years in which there is a similar absorption between man and nature" (M. Tuchman and E. Dunow, op. cit., pp. 512-13).

Apart from portraits of the locals, Lèves provided Soutine with a range of other subjects, including the Chartres cathedral (fig. 2), views of country estates and live animals. Writing about Soutine's time at the Castaings' residence, Billy Klüver and Julie Martin commented: "Soutine was not an easy guest, moody, solitary, demanding, subject to fits of anger, plagued by weeks of being unable to paint, then days of total absorption in his work. But their commitment to the painter was total. Their grounds provided Soutine with vistas to paint, and they spent days together searching for old canvases for him to paint on. They helped him convince the local inhabitants at Lèves to pose for him" (B. Klüver and J. Martin, in An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine, op. cit., 1998-99, p. 108).

In the early 1930s, Soutine's art was increasingly influenced by Old Master and nineteenth century painters such as Rembrandt, Corot and Courbet. Writing about the present work, Maïthé Vallès-Bled commented: "In this painting, Soutine borrows his subject from one of the masters he admired most - Courbet. Here was undoubtedly influenced by the latter's Girls by the Seine [fig. 3]. The model's pose is clearly reminiscent of a figure in Courbet's painting. The calm theme, quiet composition and practised skill with which Soutine renders the transparency of the lace collar of the dress all attest to the fact that he had now attained the 'classic balance' which he had sought to achieve" (M. Vallès-Bled, in Chaim Soutine (exhibition catalogue), Museo d'Arte Moderna, Lugano, 1995, p. 175).