My dealer friend [Vladimir Raykis, Galerie Zak] who had procured the Indenbaum Portrait had also arranged for me to see with him a famous collection in Paris. I had no more than been introduced to the hostess [likely Madame Netter] when she asked whether I could do her a good turn in America where her daughter was visiting; I readily assented. My dealer friend then asked the hostess timidly whether she would sell me a Soutine, of which she owned a large number. She said yes, and brought out three of them without frames, one a self-portrait. I pointed to the self-portrait without asking the price, which the dealer negotiated quickly, whereupon he picked up the painting, put it under his arm, and literally forced me to leave with him immediately.

Ignoring my protests at leaving so suddenly without seeing the famous collection, the dealer explained to me that if I had stayed five minutes more the seller would have changed her mind. My friend knew what he was doing; by the time we had returned to his gallery, a telephone message was already waiting. On returning the call, the dealer had to purchase the painting a second time, by convincing the seller she had made a good deal. Unfortunately for me, while the Soutine portrait was still in Paris a representative of Skira Art Book Publications saw it at my friend's gallery and had it reproduced in color. This color reproduction, published shortly after my purchase, convinced the seller that she had been unwise to part with it. The result was that I have never been able to get a return invitation to see the rest of her collection.