Soutine’s Portraits: Cooks, Waiters & Bellboys

This exhibition brings together an outstanding group of portraits by Chaïm Soutine (1893–1943). This major exhibition is the first time he has been exhibited in the UK in 35 years. In the early 1920s, Soutine became fascinated by the cooks and waiting staff of French hotels and restaurants. Over the following decade, these humble models sat for him in Paris and the south of France. The resulting series of portraits offers powerful images of a new social class of service personnel. These often-overlooked figures from France’s most fashionable places of leisure appealed to Soutine’s idea that profound emotion and a deep sense of humanity could be found in such modest sitters. Today, his portraits of hotel and restaurant workers are considered among his greatest achievements. Find out more about the ‘Soutine’s Portraits’ exhibition from the Courtauld Gallery’s website.

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