Louis Soutter: Artists at Art Basel Miami Beach 2007

Finger paintings made by Louis Soutter in the last years of his life—he died in a Swiss asylum in 1942—are on display at Galerie Haas & Fuchs (H1) of Berlin. Made when Soutter was in his 70s and suffering from palsy, they are among his most powerful images. Working like a man possessed, he created mysterious and demonic figures in black, some crucified others bearing their crosses, making them sought after examples of “outsider” art. Two works priced at $127,000 each, Espagne Février (1939) and Trois Étres des Bois Sans Vie, 1937-42, (pictured) were sold to a private European collector. At the time of going to press a third painting was being held on reserve. Soutter’s “art brut” was a favourite of the architect Le Corbusier, his cousin. It was also an important influence on Jean Dubuffet, the French artist who was an early champion of art brut.