Soutine’s Last Journey of Eternity

ST. PETERSBURG. Ivan Limbach’s publishing house announced the release of Ralph Dutley’s book on Chaim Soutine.

The Soviet Union of pre-perestroika times Ralph Dutli was not allowed to visit Brodsky, Tsvetaeva and Mandelstam. Translations into German of “unreliable” poets are irrefutable proof of “guilt” and a sufficient argument for a categorical refusal of a visa to a Swiss philologist who is in love with Russian language and literature. The dream of buying the three-volume Osip Emilievich came true thanks to the means saved on the purchase of products. The “Literary Diet” was not in vain for Dutley. His book is Meine Zeit, mein Tier.

Ossip Mandelstam (My Century, My Beast. Osip Mandelstam) is one of the poet’s best biographies. Unprecedented is the translation of the complete collection of his works. In a recent interview, a Swiss writer talks about the irrelevance of visits to Russia, since the vector of his literary interests lies on a different plane, but his last work is again devoted to Mandelstam.

The book Soutines letzte Fahrt’s Last Journey is notable for being Dutley’s first novel. The choice of the genre allowed to go beyond the standard fictionalized biography and give free rein to the imagination, compensating for the lack of information about the restless genius. Dutley accompanies Soutine on his journey to death. One of the endless wanderings of the strange, autistic, sick, who knew the poverty and hunger of the artist, whose monument by Arbit Blatas now stands in the center of Paris. Escape from Smilovichi from religious prohibitions and his disapproving passion for painting the family in such a coveted Paris.

Many kilometers of hiking from Cagnes-sur-Mer and Vence to its inspiring landscapes. Sere, Le Blanc, Lyon, Champigny-sur-Veldre. There is no America on this list where Soutine tried unsuccessfully to emigrate in the hope of finding salvation from the Nazis pursuing him. The story looped in Paris, where he was brought on a hearse dying of stomach bleeding. Only in the clinic of Dr. Grosset, contrary to the existing ban, they agreed to provide medical assistance to the Jew. But a happy salvation did not happen. The hallucinations of the dying Soutine, which arose in Dutley’s imagination, are one of the central places of the novel, an emotional reconstruction of the last hours of his life.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru