A musician and a visionary artist, Louis Soutter spent the last twenty years of his life in a hospice for elderly men in a small Swiss village. Although never diagnosed with any psychiatric issues, he was placed there against his will by his family, who had tired of dealing with his eccentricity and spendthrift ways. Far from stemming the flow of his creativity, however, his forced isolation focused his attention on his art as never before, and he drew prolifically. In 1937, arthritis and failing eyesight forced him to abandon the use of drawing tools; undeterred, he developed a radical new technique of dipping his fingers into paint or ink and drawing directly onto large sheets of paper or card. The dark silhouetted figures that fill this sheet seem to vibrate with the primal energy of cave paintings, their contorted poses and terrified expressions – as well as the thin horizontal streaks of ink which might represent arrows or the flight of bullets – suggesting that they are fleeing some unseen threat of violence. Although Soutter led a sheltered life in the hospice, he was keenly aware of the escalating threat of the Second World War ; the inscription on the verso ('Frapper?' which means To Beat) is likely inspired by the world’s march toward catastrophe.

acquired directly from the artist by Madame Walter du Martheray, Perroy [according to 1998 letter from Michel Thévoz in file], until at least 1961 [when lent to exh. in Lausanne]; Ernest Manganel, Lausanne; sold by his heirs; P.P., Lausanne [as listed in 1976 cat.]; Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne; purchased there by Howard Karshan (1933-2017), 12 June 1998 [invoice in file]; Presented by Linda Karshan in memory of her husband, Howard Karshan, 2020.

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 19/11/2021-09/01/2022

Louis Soutter et les modernes, Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, 28/09/2002-05/01/2003; Musee Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, 21/02/2003-04/05/2003

Louis Soutter, 1871-1942, Musee Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, 02/03/1961-28/05/1961 ...More

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20 Nov. 2021 - 9 Jan. 2022
cat. no. 6a (recto), 6b (verso)
pp. 57 (recto), 59 (verso)

Louis Soutter et les modernes, Basel and Lausanne, 2002-03
cat. no. 185
ill.

Thévoz, M., Louis Soutter, Catalogue de l'oeuvre, Zurich 1976
no. 2688 (recto)
ill.
letter in file from the author stating he had been unaware there was a drawing on the verso but in 1998 he authenticated it ...More

Inscription: Recto: lower right, brush and black ink, titled: "BROOUSS / E" [sic]. Verso: lower left, brush and black ink: “FRAPPER?”.