Soutine met the successful Parisian interior decorator and antiquarian Madeleine Castaing (1894–1992) in 1920. She and her husband became one of the artist's most important patrons during the following decade. The portrait took six sittings in the artist's Paris studio. Castaing's fidgeting hands, awkwardly positioned legs, and tense facial expression convey her impatience and discomfort while posing.
Marcellin and Madeleine Castaing, Paris (from ca. 1929; possibly sold to de Groot); Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York (by 1936–d. 1967; her bequest to MMA)
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Summer Exhibitions: Painting & Sculpture from the Museum Collection and on Loan," June 23–November 4, 1937, no catalogue (listed in exhibition press release as "Portrait of a Girl," lent by Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York).
Boston Museum of Modern Art. "Twentieth Century Paintings from the Museum of Modern Art," March 2–26, 1938, no catalogue.
Adelaide. National Art Gallery. "Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art," August 21–September 17, 1939, no. 116 (as "Portrait of a Woman," lent by Miss Adelaide M. de Groot, through the courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York).
Melbourne. Town Hall. "Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art," October 16–November 1, 1939, no. 116.
Sydney. David Jones's Art Gallery. "Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art," November 20–December 16, 1939, no. 116.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Twentieth Century Portraits," December 9, 1942–January 24, 1943, unnumbered cat. (p. 89; as "Mme. Marcel Castaing," lent by Miss Adelaide M. de Groot, on extended loan to The Museum of Modern Art, New York).
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Twentieth Century Portraits," February 12–March 7, 1943, unnumbered cat.
Worcester, Mass. Worcester Art Museum. "Twentieth Century Portraits," March 21–April 18, 1943, unnumbered cat.
Arts Club of Chicago. "Twentieth Century Portraits," May 4–31, 1943, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. "Twentieth Century Portraits," June 14–July 12, 1943, unnumbered cat.
City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "Twentieth Century Portraits," October 1–29, 1943, unnumbered cat.
Flint, Mich. Flint Institute of Arts. "Twentieth Century Portraits," November 20–December 18, 1943, unnumbered cat.
Utica, N.Y. Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. "Twentieth Century Portraits," January 1–29, 1944, unnumbered cat.
West Palm Beach, Fla. Norton Gallery and School of Art. "Twentieth Century Portraits," February 11–March 10, 1944, unnumbered cat.
Winter Park, Fla. Rollins College. "Twentieth Century Portraits," March 18–April 8, 1944, unnumbered cat.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Soutine," October 31, 1950–January 7, 1951, unnumbered cat. (p. 95; lent by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Extended loan from Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot).
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Soutine," January 30–March 18, 1951, unnumbered cat.
Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum. "Twentieth Century Painting from Three Cities: New York, New Haven, Hartford," October 19–December 4, 1955, not in catalogue [see Ref. Tuchman et al. 1993].
New York. Perls Galleries. "Masterpieces from the Collection of Adelaide Milton de Groot," April 14–May 3, 1958, no. 32 (as "Portrait de Madame Marcel Castaing," 1928).
Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. "Masterpieces from the Adelaide Milton de Groot Collection," December 2, 1958–March 1, 1959, no. 38 (as "Girl with Fur Coat," 1928).
Edinburgh. Royal Scottish Academy. "Chaim Soutine, 1893–1943," August 17–September 15, 1963, no. 40 (lent by Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York ).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Chaïm Soutine, 1893–1943," February 20–April 14, 1968, no. 53 (dated ca. 1928).
Jerusalem. Israel Museum. "Soutine," summer 1968, no. 37.
Paris. Orangerie des Tuileries. "Soutine," April 27–September 17, 1973, no. 45.
New York. Marlborough Gallery, Inc. "Chaïm Soutine, 1893–1943," October 11–November 3, 1973, no. 54.
Jewish Museum, New York. "Jewish Experience in the Art of the Twentieth Century," October 16, 1975–January 25, 1976, no. 230.
National Portrait Gallery, London. "20th Century Portraits," June 9–September 17, 1978, no. 68 (as "Madeleine Castaing").
New York. Galleri Bellman. "Soutine (1893–1943)," December 6, 1983–January 28, 1984, unnumbered cat. (pl. 28).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection One: Twentieth-Century Art," February 1–April 30, 1985, no catalogue.
Canberra. Australian National Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," March 1–April 27, 1986, unnumbered cat. (p. 39; as "Madeleine Castaing").
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," May 7–July 1, 1986, unnumbered cat.
Yokohama Museum of Art. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century," March 25–June 4, 1989, no. 170 (as "Madeleine Castaing").
Musée de Chartres. "Soutine," June 29–October 30, 1989, no. 52.
Jewish Museum, New York. "An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine," April 26–August 16, 1998, no. 50 (as "Madeleine Castaing").
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine," September 27, 1998–January 3, 1999, no. 50.
Cincinnati Art Museum. "An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine," February 14–May 2, 1999, no. 50.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painters in Paris: 1895–1950," March 8–December 31, 2000, extended to January 14, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 49; as "Madeleine Castaing").
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," September 14–November 24, 2002, no. 56 (as "Madeleine Castaing," 1929).
Tokyo. Bunkamura Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," December 7, 2002–March 9, 2003, no. 56.
Madrid. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and Fundación "La Caixa". "The Mirror and the Mask: Portraiture in the Age of Picasso," February 6–May 20, 2007, no. 26.
Fort Worth. Kimbell Art Museum. "The Mirror and the Mask: Portraiture in the Age of Picasso," June 17–September 16, 2007, no. 26.
Paris. Musée de l'Orangerie. "Chaïm Soutine (1893–1943), l'ordre du chaos," October 3, 2012–January 21, 2013, no. 3 (as "Madeleine Castaing").
Philadelphia. Barnes Foundation. "Soutine / de Kooning: Conversations in Paint," March 7–August 8, 2021, unnumbered cat. (pl. 7).
Paris. Musée de l'Orangerie. "Chaïm Soutine / Willem de Kooning. La peinture incarnée," September 15, 2021–January 10, 2022, unnumbered cat. (pl. 12).
Elie Faure. Soutine. Paris, 1929, pl. 27, calls it "Portrait" and dates it 1928.
Monroe Wheeler. 20th Century Portraits. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1942, pp. 16, 143, ill. p. 89, dates it about 1928; reproduces a photograph of Castaing; considers it "an unflattering likeness," adding that "all [Soutine's] painting, even when his subject is a woman of the world, is full of a feeling for the distress and the innocent ugliness of poor humanity".
Alfred H. Barr Jr., ed. Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1942, p. 76, no. 578, as "Portrait of Mme. Marcel Castaing," on extended loan from Miss Adelaide M. de Groot [from 1936].
Edward Alden Jewell. "Artist and His Sitter: Museum of Modern Art Opens Exhibition of Portraiture in This Century." New York Times (December 13, 1942), p. X9.
M[anny]. F[arber]. "Portraits at Museum of Modern Art." Magazine of Art 36 (January 1943), p. 17.
Alfred H. Barr Jr., ed. Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1948, p. 321, ill. p. 63, calls it "Portrait of Mme Marcel Castaing," dates it about 1928, and notes that it is on extended loan from Adelaide M. de Groot.
Monroe Wheeler. Soutine. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 1950, pp. 92, 113, ill. p. 95, dates it about 1928.
Emil Szittya. Soutine et son temps. Paris, 1955, p. 69 n. 3, p. 115, dates it 1928.
Henry P. Raleigh. "Image and Imagery in Painting." Art Journal 21 (Spring 1962), pp. 160–61, fig. 6, calls it "Portrait of Mme. Marcel Castaing".
"Modigliani and Soutine—Two Painters of the 20th Century." Illustrated London News (September 14, 1963), p. 389, ill., listed with the erroneous caption for "Woman in Red," ca. 1922, collection Dr. and Mrs. Harry Bakwin, New York.
T. Elder Dickson. "International and Scottish." Studio International Art 166 (November 1963), p. 205, dates it 1928.
David Sylvester. "Soutine." Sunday Times Colour Magazine (September 15, 1963), p. 8, ill. (color), dates it about 1925.
Douglas Hall. "Modigliani and Soutine at Edinburgh, 1963." Art International 7 (November 10, 1963), ill. p. 44, dates it about 1928.
Maurice Tuchman inChaim Soutine, 1893–1943. Exh. cat., Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh. [London], 1963, p. 24, no. 40, pl. 24, dates it about 1928; notes that this picture is unusual among Soutine's portraits because of the sophistication and "nervous grace" of the sitter, adding that it is the only Soutine portrait that depicts the sitter smoking.
Andrew Forge. Soutine. London, 1965, p. 42, colorpl. 35, dates it about 1928.
Pierre Courthion. Soutine: Peintre du déchirant. Lausanne, 1972, pp. 93, 151, ill. pp. 151, 271, fig. D, dates it about 1928.
Raymond Cogniat. Soutine. New York, 1973, p. 81, ill. p. 51 (color), dates it 1928.
Jean Leymarie. Soutine. Exh. cat., Orangerie des Tuileries. Paris, 1973, pp. 7, 89, 100, no. 45, ill. p. 48 (color), dates it about 1928.
Edith Hoffmann. "Soutine: Ausstellung in Paris." Neue Zürcher Zeitung (July 26, 1973), p. 39.
Maurice Tuchman. Chaim Soutine, 1893–1943. Exh. cat., Marlborough Gallery, Inc. New York, 1973, pp. 9, 15, no. 54, ill. p. 70, dates it about 1928.
Avram Kampf. Jewish Experience in the Art of the Twentieth Century. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum. New York, 1975, pp. 19, 61, no. 230, dates it 1928.
Alfred Werner. Chaïm Soutine. New York, 1977, pp. 62, 134, 140, colorpl. 35, dates it about 1928.
Robin Gibson. 20th Century Portraits. Exh. cat., National Portrait Gallery. London, 1978, p. 78, no. 68, ill., dates it about 1928.
Keith Roberts. "Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions. London." Burlington Magazine 120 (August 1978), p. 551, fig. 67 (detail).
Madeleine Castaing inChaim Soutine, 1893–1943. Ed. Ernst-Gerhard Güse. Exh. cat., Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Münster. London, 1982, p. 14, fig. 2; p. 133, fig. 41, dates it about 1928.
Esti Dunow inSoutine (1893–1943). Exh. cat., Galleri Bellman. New York, 1983, pp. 11, 67, colorpl. 28, dates it about 1928.
Grace Glueck. "Art: Three Decades of Chaim Soutine Paintings." New York Times (December 30, 1983), p. C21.
Colette Giraudon in Michel Hoog. Musée de l'Orangerie. Catalogue de la collection Jean Walter et Paul Guillaume. Paris, 1984, p. 282, erroneously lists it in the collection of the Pierre Matisse Gallery.
John Yau and Rachel Stella. "Madeleine Castaing Reminisces About Chaim Soutine." Arts Magazine 59 (December 1984), p. 72, relate Castaing's recollection that Soutine asked her to pose for him, beginning the sittings in his Paris studio but then continuing at the Castaing's country home, where he stayed from 1929, eventually painting "a great many portraits" of her, of which only two survived [see Ref. Tuchman et al. 1993]; quote Castaing's comment that she "didn't think [this portrait] was a very good likeness" and that she sold it to the MMA.
Terence Measham in20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Australian National Gallery. Canberra, 1986, p. 39, ill. (color), dates it 1928; describes the sitter's hands as conveying "nervous anxiety" in this "psychologically charged confrontation between artist and subject".
William S. Lieberman. 20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 1, Painting: 1905–1945. New York, 1986, pp. 40–41, ill. (color, overall and detail), calls it "Madeleine Castaing" and dates it 1928.
Frank B. Diamond. "A Portrait of Soutine." Inside 7 (Fall 1986), ill. p. 21 (color), as "Portrait of Madame Marcel Castaing," 1928.
Gary Tinterow et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe. New York, 1987, p. 137, colorpl. 114, calls it "Madeleine Castaing" and dates it 1928.
Stanley Meisler. "Soutine: The Power and the Fury of an Eccentric Genius." Smithsonian 19 (November 1988), pp. 134–35, ill. p. 139 (color), calls it "Madeleine Castaing" and dates it 1928.
Richard Shone. "Chartres. Soutine." Burlington Magazine 131 (December 1989), p. 867, comments that this work is the closest Soutine "came to a 'society portrait'".
William S. Lieberman inTreasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Exh. cat., Yokohama Museum of Art. Yokohama, 1989, p. 208, no. 170, ill. (color), states that this portrait was commissioned in 1928; notes that it required six sittings and reflects the sitter's impatience.
Maïthé Vallès-Bled. Soutine. Exh. cat., Musée de Chartres. Chartres, 1989, pp. 246–49, no. 52, ill. (color, overall and detail), notes that Castaing posed many times in Soutine's Paris studio; observes that only two Soutine portraits captured the personality of the sitter, this one and the portrait of Maria Lani (1929; Museum of Modern Art, New York).
Michel Boudaud. "Madeleine Castaing, la grande dame de Lèves, a quitté le siècle." La République du Centre 48 (December 19–20, 1992), ill. p. 2 (two installation photos of Exh. Chartres 1989, with Madeleine Castaing standing before this picture).
Catherin Fisher. "The Secret of Soutine: An Interview with Madeleine Castaing." Apollo 135 (February 1992), pp. 94, 97, colorpl. 1, dates it 1928.
Maurice Tuchman, Esti Dunow, and Klaus Perls. Chaim Soutine (1893–1943): Catalogue raisonné. Werkverzeichnis. Cologne, 1993, vol. 2, pp. 712–13, no. III-138, ill. (color), in addition to this work, catalogue two other portraits of Madeleine Castaing, both dated about 1929 (no. III-136, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Fla.; no. III-137, Acquavella Modern Art, Reno, Nev.).
Barbara Burn, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1983). New York, 1994, p. 442, no. 20, ill. (color), calls it "Madeleine Castaing".
Nancy L. Ross. "Madeleine Castaing's World." Washington Post (May 11, 1995), ill., dates it 1928.
Colette Giraudon in Norman L. Kleeblatt and Kenneth E. Silver. An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York. New York, 1998, fig. 50a.
Billy Klüver and Julie Martin in Norman L. Kleeblatt and Kenneth E. Silver. An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York. New York, 1998, p. 107, date it 1928.
Ellen Pratt in Norman L. Kleeblatt and Kenneth E. Silver. An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York. New York, 1998, pp. 126, 197, colorpl. 28, notes that an X ray of this painting shows that strips of canvas were added to the right and top edges, while the left edge was cut down, perhaps in order to center the subject in the middle of the composition.
Mira Goldfarb Berkowitz in Norman L. Kleeblatt and Kenneth E. Silver. An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York. New York, 1998, p. 200, lists it in the chronology under 1928–29.
Roberta Smith. "Exposing a Heart Seething: Exposing a Heart at a Full Boil." New York Times (April 24, 1998), p. E35, ill. p. E31.
Mitchell Owens. "For Sale: A Diva's Eccentric Legacy." New York Times (September 23, 2004), p. F5, ill. (color).
"Works by Chaim Soutine from the Castaing Collection." Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. Sotheby's, London. June 21, 2004, p. 139, under nos. 44–46, fig. 3 (color), dates it 1928.
Paloma Alarcó inThe Mirror and the Mask: Portraiture in the Age of Picasso. Exh. cat., Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2007, pp. 65, 325, no. 26, ill. p. 87 (color).
Wendy Moonan. "Antiques: Remembering a Woman Of Very Original Tastes." New York Times (February 15, 2008), p. E40.
Jean-Noël Liaut. Madeleine Castaing: Mécène à Montparnasse. Décoratrice à Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Paris, 2008, pp. 84–85, fig. 10, dates it 1928 in the text and 1929 in the caption.
Christopher Petkanas. "Châtelaine of St.-Germain." New York Times (October 19, 2008), p. B58, ill.
Colette Giraudon inChaïm Soutine. Exh. cat., Musée de l'Orangerie. Paris, 2012, pp. 37, 160, 168, no. 3, ill. (color) front cover and p. 68.
Philippe Piguet. "Chaïm Soutine: Peintre de l'incarné." L'Œil no. 652 (December 2012), p. 76.
Stanley Meisler. Shocking Paris: Soutine, Chagall and the Outsiders of Montparnasse. New York, 2015, pp. 123, 126–27, ill. n. p. (color), dates it 1930.
Lili Davenas inSoutine / de Kooning: Conversations in Paint. Ed. Simonetta Fraquelli and Claire Bernardi. Exh. cat., Barnes Foundation. Philadelphia, 2021, p. 133, colorpl. 7.
Chaim Soutine (French (born Lithuania), Smilovitchi 1893–1943 Paris)
ca. 1924
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
