The Resume

(January 13, 1893-August 9, 1943)
Born in Smilavicy, Belarus
Birth name was Chaim-Iche Solomonovich Sutin
Settled in Paris (1913)
Expressionist painter
Works include 'Still Life with Herring' (1916), 'Still Life with a Ray' (1924), 'Carcass of Beef' (1925), 'Bellboy' (1925), and 'Female Nude (Eve)' (1935)

Why he might be annoying:

As he painted the 'Carcass of Beef' series, the stench of rotting meat eventually drove his neighbors to complain to the police.
When the police arrived, he debated them about the importance of art versus hygiene.
He eventually agreed to paint sides of beef that had been injected with formaldehyde to delay spoiling.
However, he found that the treated beef was not as vividly colored, so he bought blood from a slaughterhouse and liberally applied it to 'freshen up' the carcasses.
On one occasion, Marc Chagall saw the blood leaking out from under Soutine's door into the corridor and ran out, shouting 'Someone has killed Soutine!'
Rather than clean his brushes, he would discard them as he changed colors, with dozens piling up on the floor.
When he visited a doctor complaining of a persistent earache, the doctor pulled out a clump of bedbugs that had been nesting in his ear.
He destroyed hundreds of his paintings, including ones he bought back from art dealers.

Why he might not be annoying:

His interest in art got him beaten by two of his brothers.
During his years as a literally starving artist, he developed painful stomach ulcers; even after he began making money, he could eat little besides bread and potatoes.
After the Nazi invasion of France, he fled to the countryside to avoid being arrested as a Jew, sometimes sleeping outdoors in forests.
After several weeks of intense pain, he was smuggled into a Paris hospital for emergency surgery; it proved to be too late and he died of peritonitis from a perforated ulcer.
He influenced Francis Bacon and Willem de Kooning.
His painting 'Eva' was adopted as a symbol by pro-democracy protestors in Belarus (2020).

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Painters
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 88]
• I Died in 1943 (Ranked: 50)
• I'm Buried at Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• Painters
• Profiles 54501-54750 (Ranked: 54519)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 18 Votes: 22.22% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying