Outset Israel was delighted to support "Naked Soul: Chaïm Soutine and Israeli Art" in 2019. The exhibition was centred on the work of Chaïm Soutine, one of the most prominent and influential artists active in the first half of the 20th century. Soutine settled down in Paris between the two world wars. Amedeo Modigliani became his close friend, and his social circle included Pablo Picasso, Max Jacob, Jean Cocteau, and Chana Orloff. Soutine, however, was unusual in his artistic quests, and his work cannot be ascribed to any movement or even group active in the French capital at the time. He drew his inspiration mainly from the Old Masters, and every painting he created—whether landscape, portrait, or still life—was concurrently perceived as a contemplation of life and death.
Soutine’s originality and his unique painterly language have made him a "painter’s painter," a source of inspiration and a model to emulate for many artists in the following generations, who perceived his work as a paradigm of artistic commitment. The exhibition focused on Soutine’s lasting impact, as shown in the works of three generations of Israeli art, with special emphasis on the paintings by Chaim Atar, the founder of the Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod. The participating artists represented a range of emotive values inspired by Soutine’s oeuvre. Some found inspiration in his themes—the portraits, landscapes, still life, slaughtered and dead animals; others were drawn to the materiality of the paint, the bold colour applications and expressiveness; for others, it was the bursting energy and gestural painting. Still, one may generalise by saying that the majority of the works selected for this show echoed the "Soutine quality," whose essence is vulnerability, anxiety, and a "naked soul."
For the first time in fifty years, a body of works by Soutine was presented to the Israeli public, shedding new light on the relevance of his work to Israeli art, here and now.
ON VIEW: 9th November 2019 - 21st March 2020
