Rare letter from Chaïm SOUTINE in search of artistic inspiration. 1931.

Chaïm SOUTINE (1893.1943). 

Autographed letter signed to Émile Lejeune.

Two quarto pages. Autograph envelope.

Paris. November 30, 1931 (date added in another hand)

"I will soon rediscover my passion for my work, because I am tired of doing nothing."

Soutine, ill and idle, wishes to join his friend Lejeune in the South of France in order to rediscover his pictorial inspiration.

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"Dear Lejeune, I have long intended to come and work in the south. I have been very ill since the last time I saw you in Paris. I was on a very strict diet thanks to which I am now feeling better.".

I would like to leave Paris as soon as I receive your reply if you could find me a large room where I can work. I would also be grateful if you could write to me to let me know if milk is available in Cagnes for my diet. I believe that by staying in Cagnes I will soon rediscover my enthusiasm for work, as I am tired of doing nothing.

 What's become of you? Will you be staying in Cagnes all winter? My regards to Madame Lejeune. Your Soutine , 3 rue Narcisse Diaz, 16th arrondissement.

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In 1931, Soutine had already been enjoying recognition from the art world and collectors since the mid-1920s, despite his complicated relationships with his patrons and with the very idea of ​​success or fortune.

The Slavic painter's health problems had a serious impact on his artistic output. During his time living at La Ruche, riddled with vermin and penniless, Soutine most likely contracted a tapeworm. This led to a stomach ulcer, which worsened over the years. Despite his fragile health, Soutine devised diets based on milk and potatoes, but was nonetheless forced, on several occasions, to stop painting for weeks or even months at a time.

Hoping to rediscover his passion for work in the South of France, the artist asked his friend, the painter Émile Lejeune, to find him a room that could serve as a studio. One might, however, be surprised by this desire that then drove him to return to Cagnes, given that in 1923 he had written to the art dealer Zborowski that he wanted to "leave Cagnes, this landscape [that he] can no longer bear [sic].".

A close friend of Soutine, Modigliani, Picasso and Matisse, Émile Lejeune (1885-1964), a painter of Genevan origin, owned a studio in the Montparnasse district where, between 1916 and 1919, numerous events bringing together bohemian artists were held.

Lejeune is immortalized in one of Soutine's most famous portraits: Portrait of a Man (Emile Lejeune), painted in 1923 and now kept at the Musée de l'Orangerie under inventory number FR196394.