Meet 'Le Boeuf,' a Painting of Beef Estimated to Sell for Over $20 Million

Meet 'Le Boeuf', the painting of a slab of beef that's expected to command eight figures at auction at Christie's.

Next week, a painting depicting a slab of beef is slated to command between $20 and $30 million at an auction at Christie’s. Meet Le Boeuf (c. 1923), the polarizing painting by mid-century expressionist artist Chaim Soutine. It’s not the first time one of his food-related works has raked in eight figures at auction either: Le Petit Patissier sold for $18 million at Christie’s in 2013.

We turned to Derek Gillman, chairman of impressionist and modern art in the Americas at Christie’s, to help us put Le Boeuf in context and learn more about what makes a painting of meat worth such serious money.


Soutine's Le Petit Pâtissier. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd.

Who Is Soutine?

Soutine was brought up poor in a Lithuanian-Jewish area, was heavily influenced by Rembrandt, and painted in Montmartre, Paris at the height of the modern era. His paintings are divisive and sometimes off-putting, but he was an artist whose works speak to an important moment of transition in the modern painting tradition. Soutine made it big when Albert Barnes, of Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation, bought close to 50 of his works for his expansive collection in the early 1920s.

What’s Up With This Particular Painting?

Only three of the nine original paintings from this series still exist. Le Boeuf straddles the line between French and German painting styles, and marks a shift from early 20th century art to that of later periods. Gillman said, “It’s totally confrontational. It fills the entire canvas and envelops you.” He continued, “It’s visceral in every sense.” It's also deeply symbolic. Gillman noted that paintings of this style are “really just crucifixions,” made more interesting by the fact that Soutine was Jewish. Also, representations of the human body at the time emphasized exteriors. By contrast, Le Boeuf was "a way of talking about the insides," Gillman said.

The Gory Backstory

Soutine bought a side of beef from the butcher and hung the carcass by meat hooks in his studio until it started to decompose. “He kept the beef hanging, and poured blood all over it so it would maintain its color," Gillman said. Understandably, his neighbors got mad about the stench and called the cops. Then he injected it with formaldehyde and buried it in a deep hole when he was done painting.

Flickr/Playing Futures: Applied Nomadology

Soutine's Poissons et Tomates. Photo: Flickr/Playing Futures: Applied Nomadology

Why Did He Paint Food?

He painted what he knew. Soutine, like many other artists of the mid-1900s, wasn’t rich. Gillman explained, “He was familiar with that atmosphere of painters and sculptors living in and out of cafes and hotel bars in Montmartre,” said Gillman. Instead of focusing on the well-coiffed and polished elites of Paris, Soutine painted portraits of the pastry chefs, maître d’s, and butchers he encountered. “Someone like Soutine, was looking for the unusual but was also engaged with the rawness of life. He was perfectly aware of how tough restaurant life was at the time,” Gillman said. “Pastry chefs looked almost as undressed as a slab of beef. They have experienced the batterings of life. They are not smooth individuals.”

Who Owns the Painting Now?

A private family of North American collectors currently owns it. It’s previously been on display at museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C..

Is It Worth the Money?

Gillman said yes. “It’s a major, major work, and the market is strong at the moment. It’s priced in a way that reflects its significance,” Gillman said. “Compared to works from someone like Matisse, who is very accommodating to the viewer, people find it difficult to look at Soutine's works. He does nothing to be accomodating.”


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