Chaïm Soutine

Shigetaro Fukushima (acquired circa 1930)

Jos. Hessel, Paris (acquired circa 1930)

Marcellin and Madeline Castaing, Paris (acquired circa 1931)

Mrs. Lloyd Bruce Wescott, Clinton, New Jersey (acquired circa 1932)

The Museum of Modern Art, New York (by exchange from the above in March 1947)

Richard S. Zeisler, New York (acquired from the above in November 1950)

Acquired from the above in 2005

Chicago, Arts Club, Paintings by Chaim Soutine, 1935, no. 17

Boston, Institute of Modern Art, Two Russians: Chagall and Soutine, 1945, no. 32

New York, The Museum of Modern Art, New Acquisitions, 1948, no. 16

New York, The Museum of Modern Art; Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art & Seattle, The Henry Art Gallery, Chaim Soutine, 1951, illustrated in the catalogue

Venice, XXVI Biennale Internazionale d'Arte, 1952. no. 12

New York, Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Soutine and His Circle in Paris, 1958, no. 4

London, Tate Gallery & Edinburgh, Arts Festival, Chaim Soutine, 1963, no. 36, illustrated in color in the catalogue

New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Van Gogh and Expressionism, 1964

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Chaim Soutine: 1893-1943, 1968, no. 71, illustrated in the catalogue

Münster, Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte;  Tübingen, Kunsthalle & London, Hayward Gallery, Chaim Soutine, 1981-82, no. 66, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, Formes, Paris, May 1930, fig. 6, illustrated (titled The Cock)

Paintings and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1948, no. 702, illustrated

"A Study of Soutine," Times Literary Supplement, London, May 4, 1951, p. 270

Giulia Veronesi, Emporium, Bergamo, July-August 1952, illustrated p. 50

Paolo D'Ancona, Some Aspects of Expressionism, 1957, illustrated in color p. 61

Edith Hoffman, Burlington Magazine, London, August 1958, p. 296

Cordelia Oliver, Manchester Guardian, Manchester, October 1, 1963, discussed

D. Hall, Apollo, London, October 1963, p. 310

David Irwin, "Edinburgh," Burlington Magazine, London, October 1963, fig. 41, illustrated p. 464

David Sylvester, Art News, New York, October 1963, fig. 3, illustrated p. 23

G. Brett, Manchester Guardian, Manchester, October 1, 1963

Andrew Forge, Soutine, London, 1965, no. 29, illustrated in color p. 41

David R. Shirey, Newsweek, New York, February 26, 1968, p. 58

Cecil Roth, Encyclopedia Judaica, Jerusalem, 1971, illustrated

Pierre Courthion, Soutine: Peintre du déchirant, Paris, 1972, illustrated in color p. 75 and illustrated p. 247H

Marie Marevna, Life with the Painters of La Ruche, New York, 1972, illustrated pl. 15

Alfred Werner, Chaim Soutine, New York, 1977, fig. 72, illustrated p. 59

E. Mai, Pantheon, Munich, Winter 1982, p. 64

Lynne Cooke, Burlington Magazine, London, October 1982, p. 647

Avram Kampf, Jewish Experience in the Art of the Twentieth Century, Massachusetts, 1984, no. 80, illustrated p. 92

Billy Klüver & Julie Martin, Kiki's Paris: Artists and Lovers, 1900 – 1930, New York, 1989, fig. 6, illustrated p.149

Simon Schama, "Gut Feeling," The New Yorker, New York, May 25, 1998, pp. 112-118

Maurice Tuchman, Esti Dunow & Klaus Perls, Chaim Soutine, 1893-1943. Catalogue Raisonné, vol. I, Cologne, 1993, no. 67, illustrated in color p. 431

Overall very good condition. The canvas is lined, but the surface texture is richly preserved and the thick impasto is intact. There is a 3/4 inch scratch near the lower left edge, and three tiny losses along the lower left edge. Under ultra-violet light, there is no evidence of retouching, but there is uneven florescence that is probably inherent to the artist's medium.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

​Soutine's paintings, known for their textural bravura and focus on unlikely themes, astounded his contemporaries.  Whether he was depicting blue-collar workers, local monuments or dead animals, his ability to uncover the magnetism of vernacular subjects set him apart.  The butchered fowl painted in the present work exemplifies the unexpected visual appeal that Soutine could reveal in such an unusual subject.  Soutine is unflinching in his pictorial investigation of the carcass, illuminating the meat as it hangs limply in the darkened abattoir.  The raw brutality of ​La Dinde pendue​ has an undeniably visceral impact on the viewer, and Soutine's fearless exploration of this subject places it along a continuum with the great ​memento mori​ pictures of Chardin and the Dutch artists of the northern Renaissance.  In fact, this painting, along with his other powerful still lifes, would ultimately inspire contemporary artists such as Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst.   

​The first owner of this picture was Baron Shigetaro Fukushima (1895-1960), one of the earliest collectors of European modernist art in Japan. Born in Tokyo in 1895, Baron Fukushima visited Paris for the first time in 1923 and shortly after his arrival made his first purchase of a French painting, a Renoir landscape. He acquired the present work shortly thereafter.  In addition to this picture and others by Soutine, the collection numbered over one hundred works great European modernists including Picasso, Derain, Rouault, Matisse, Chagall and Modigliani. After returning to Japan in 1933, Fukushima was obliged to sell some of his prized works from time to time to supplement his business activities.   It was under these circumstances that the work was acquired, through the dealer Jos Hessel, by Madeleine Castaing and her husband Marcellin.  The Castaings were close friends with Soutine through the 1930s and financially supported him after the death of his dealer in 1932.  It was around that time that they probably sold this work to the New Jersey-based philanthropists Lloyd Bruce and Barbara Wescott, who eventually exchanged it for another picture at the Museum of Modern Art.  MoMA later sold this picture to the investor Richard Zeisler, whose impressive collection was bequeathed to 16 major institutions upon his death, including the Museum of Modern Art.