Chaim Soutine Paintings

Chaim Soutine (January 13, 1893 - August 9, 1943) was a Jewish Russian painter who lived and worked in Paris while contributing heavily to the expressionism movement. Even though he was inspired by classic European painting, he developed his own individual style placing shape, color, and texture higher in importance than the actual representation. This approach was pivotal in the connection to Abstract Expressionism.
Soutine was the tenth of eleven children. He emigrated to Paris around 1913 to continue his studies in art. Later, he would be on the run, forced to sleep out on the streets in an effort to avoid the Gestapo once the Nazis invaded France.
Soutine was very eccentric in some of his painting choices. He painted a series of works that prompted him to keep animal carcasses in his studio. The blood pooled and ran under the wall of his room causing fellow artist Marc Chagall to run from the adjoining room screaming that "someone has killed Soutine". Those painting became his best-known pieces.