Chaim Soutine ~ The Little Pastry Chef as seen by others

Chaim Soutine's The Little Pastry Chef is one of my favorite paintings in the Portland Art Museum. Sometimes I think it's because of the wry expression on the baker's face. Other times I'm taken with the brushstrokes and intense colors that Soutine used to create this image. In any case, I'm always excited to see the image elsewhere than on the wall of the museum. Here is a sampling of what I've found.

Searching the internet and you'll find this image on Flickr. Dalylab's comment that perhaps the two had been separated at birth was spot on.

Someone else was also smitten with The Little Pastry Chef. Doren Robbins has published a book of poetry with an image of our man Soutine's painting on the cover. On his website, Robbins has this to say about himself ... "A pantry man, broiler chef, book store clerk, and carpenter from 1967-1990, he has taught Creative Writing and English since 1991." When I mentioned this book of poetry to the manager of the framing shop at Art Media, Mel said that the Soutine painting was one of her very favorites.

Soutine's art has also inspired the creation of music. John Danley created this original work for guitar "Felures Dans Le Visible". Google translates this to "Cracks in the Visible". Admittedly, The Little Pastry Chef isn't included here, but I was struck by the beauty of the music and that it was inspired by Soutine.