Milton Avery ~ Portrait of Annette Kaufman and more

Here are the main characters for this week here at Fifty Two Pieces. Annette Kaufman sits in a chair posing for Milton Avery who is painting her portrait. Between them stands Louis Kaufman, Annette's husband and preeminent violinist – they are all posing for the photographer of this image. As mentioned on Thursday's post, the Kaufmans purchased the very first painting Milton Avery ever sold. They continued to collect his paintings as well as those from many other artists. Since Louis' death in the 1990's, Annette, through their foundation, has given much of their collection of art and scores to museums and libraries.

Here are a few more of Avery's portraits of Annette to compare with the one here at the Portland Art Museum – the first shown below.























































And here's another tribute to Annette Kaufman – an oil done by Lawrence Lebduska. It hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

Milton Avery

There's something beautiful about Annette Kaufman painted by Milton Avery. Though disproportionate, she is not out of harmony. Her chin comes to a point like an icicle and her eyebrows arch over like spider legs, but they aren't frightening like Annette Funicello's in the Jiffy peanut butter ads. Here are two self portraits by Avery, they look like two completely different people.


Something he would say to his wife explains a lot about the man "Why talk when you can paint?"

Milton Avery ~ Portrait of Annette Kaufman

This image has graced the North wall of the last gallery of American art at the Portland Art Museum since I've been coming to the museum. For years, I wondered who this woman. Why had Milton Avery painted her portrait as well as the man next to her, Louis Kaufman? One day I sat down and did a Google search. It turns out Annette and Louis Kaufman were friends and patrons of Milton Avery beginning in the twenties and early 30's. It seems that in 1926, Mr. Kaufman paid Milton Avery $25 for one of his oil paintings, the very first one Avery sold. On his first date with Annette, Louis Kaufman took her to meet the Averys and to see Milton's work. Louis asked Annette to marry him on their third date and immediately asked Avery to paint a portrait of Annette. It was to be one of many including this one. Look for some of these portraits later in the week as well as more about Milton Avery and his friends and patrons, Annette and Louis Kaufman.

Chaim Soutine ~ The Little Pastry Chef linked to Bill Cumming

The Little Pastry Chef (to the left) and Portrait of Bill Cumming (above)– another unlikely duo here at Fifty Two Pieces. Portrait of Bill Cumming by Morris Graves hangs just around the corner and half way down the corridor from The Little Pastry Chef. Some think these two paintings were separated at birth or at least at the easel. Bruce Guenther, Chief Curator at the Portland Art Museum has been heard saying that Morris Graves followed in the Expressionist footsteps of Chaim Soutine with this portrait. Cumming is certainly painted with a similar elongated curving body. And the expression – Cumming might be considered to be looking bemused or a more vernacular saying about what's up with this fellow artist. Spend a moment in the gallery, look at the brush strokes, check out the paint color and ask Cumming yourself about life, his thoughts, what he was experiencing. Thinking about Graves' work, portraits are not unrepresented but are certainly not his usual choice of format. We'll probably never know why he chose to paint this younger artist's portrait. Cumming had teamed up with Graves, and the rest of the Northwest School – Guy Anderson, Kenneth and Margaret Callahan, Mark Tobey, and Lubin Petric. Maybe Graves was fascinated with Cumming's style, his love of music that he both played and composed, his love of poetry that he both read and wrote. Or perhaps it was Graves wonderment when he thought about Cumming having married seven times or finally dealing with his lingering tuberculosis from his Christian Scientist heritage. Whatever it was that prompted this painting, we are left with this unusual portrait around the corner and linked to The Little Pastry Chef. To read more about Bill Cumming and Morris Graves, take a look at "Cumming, William (b. 1917): The Willie Nelson of Northwest Painting". It is well written and follows Cumming through the Northwest as he becomes both politically active and a well known artist.

Chaim Soutine ~ Berlin

The Stasi came through in the middle of the night and removed the cube conversation about The Little Pastry Chef. Probably the only thing worse for Soutine being a Russian Jew would have been that he lived in Europe during the Nazi Regime. In any case, as a substitution for that great conversation here is a painting of Berlin and the River Spree. It's attributed to Soutine and was sold as such at an auction in 2005.

This painting seemed to be a fitting replacement for the Cube Conversation since I'm staying in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin while Amy is in the Cube at work.

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.

What's so Great About Pastries?

Pastries are sweet baked cakes made with dough that typically contains a simple combination of flour, butter, shortening, eggs, baking powder and sugar- you can see these things sprinkled all over our Little Pastry Chef's coat. You can feel him thinking about the dough awaiting him.
Pastry has a higher fat content than bread and a flaky consistency. Nearly every culture has its own version of regional pastries. From the dawn of man, pastes of cereal have been cooked in the sun to create a tasty pancake. These gave way to modern breads and baked goods. According to the encyclopedia of gastronomy, “Larousse Gastronomique,” as early as the Neolithic Age, prehistoric man made foods based on honey, fruits, seeds, and maple or birch syrup. It’s thought that Mediterranean baklava and filo are the original pastries, made in Assyria on special occasions and for the rich. Medieval crusaders to the Middle East brought the recipes for these sweet treats back with them upon their return to Europe. Over the next century, according to FoodTimeline.org, French and Italian Renaissance chefs perfected puff pastry to an art form, adapting these original recipes to create Napoleons, brioche, éclairs and cream puffs.
Later, early European settlers brought pies to America along with the first apple seeds. Modern pastries are still prepared nearly the same way as they were centuries ago, despite advancements in kitchen technology. All that has really changed is the availability of exotic fillings, spices and ingredients.