The White House

Nobody agrees on when Soutine painted this. Maurice Tuchman, who compiled the catalogue of his work, dated it 1918. Pierre Courthion, who interviewed the painter late in his life, said 1919. Waldemar George, who was close to Soutine's dealer Paul Guillaume, said 1933, and that is the date the Orangerie prints. Fifteen years is a long time in this particular life. Around 1918 Soutine was unknown and often hungry in Paris. By 1933 the American collector Albert Barnes had long since bought 52 of his canvases in a single visit, and Soutine was spending months at a country house near Chartres. The Orangerie notes that the way the paths run together toward the house argues for the later date. The house sits square in the middle while the trees around it twist, a calmer arrangement than the Céret landscapes he is better known for.