Chaim Soutine, Gladioli

In his still lifes, Soutine typically treated flowers as a secondary element rather than the main subject. Over time, though, flowers grew more prominent in his work until he eventually painted them as the subject in their own right. The red blooms here are gladioli, a flower commonly used in gardens and floral arrangements; though gladioli come in many colors, Soutine chose only the red variety he favored.

The brushwork is vigorous and dynamic, characteristic of an Expressionist painter, and the petals and stems in particular are built up with thick, heavily applied paint that gives them a sculptural texture.