Dindon et tomates

Chaïm Soutine
Dindon et tomates
entre 1923 et 1924
huile sur toile
H. 81 ; L. 49 cm avec cadre H. 92 ; L. 60,5 cm
© RMN-Grand Palais (Musée de l'Orangerie) / Franck Raux
Chaïm Soutine (1893 - 1943)
Artwork not currently exhibited in the museum
Other artworks from artist

In this still life the whole composition tilts towards the left. The turkey hangs on an inexplicable diagonal. The only horizontal element is the luminous white cloth placed on an indeterminate plane lost in the dark, almost black background of the painting. The tomatoes, piled up in an improbable and unstable pyramid, create a link between the horizontal plane of the cloth and the diagonal of the turkey. They provide a sort of base for the composition. Red, orange and yellow brushstrokes swirl across the animal’s flesh. The vivid red tomatoes, punctuated with spots of light cream, and rendered in broad, calmer brush strokes, form a counterpoint. The white cloth is spattered with red marks and streaks of paint. The purplish-blue impasto and the black mark, clearly representing the turkey’s feathers, convey the lurking presence of death and putrefaction.

Artworks in collections

All artworks of the artist