Soutine the Slavic-Jewish outsider quickly became Soutine the quintessential insider, a masterly upholder of the standards of sophisticated French art.

In real life, of course, the First Lady is a quintessential insider.

He is also the quintessential political insider, however, a longtime figure in party politics and a member of the cabinet of President Jacques Chirac for much of the past five years.

Mr. Yeltsin, whose reputation as a "give 'em hell" populist soared after he was demoted, will face a quintessential insider: the director of the factory that makes limousines for the party elite.

The quintessential insider, Mr. Clifford had access to the corridors of power and to the private clubs that were the marks of success.

It will be a long struggle, and the President-elect got off to a shaky start by choosing as his transition chiefs a pair of lawyers, both quintessential insiders, both identified with the old order.

To outsiders, al-Taey was the quintessential insider reaping the benefits of Hussein's reward system.

A nine-term Democrat from a bastion of New York Republicanism, he is the quintessential insider with a pure, almost religious, faith in the House.

Analysts yesterday questioned whether Mr. Buxton, as a quintessential insider, was the man to shake up Barclays and improve its performance.

Growing up in Beverly Hills, Mr. Reitman was a quintessential insider.