07/12/2006: "Modigliani"

One o' the Sestren
is rather taken with Sr Amedeo Modigliani.



Apparently there is an exhibition -

'Modigliani and his Models' is at the Royal Academy, London W1, until Oct 15.

I read a review and have, of late, come to appreciate the man!

Amedeo Modigliani was the bohemian artist par excellence - his posthumous legend is almost as famous as Van Gogh'

...the Italian-born artist was the paradigm of the romantic bohemian, the outsider painter who pursued his own vision amid a swirl of drugs, alcohol and dissolution in the Paris of the early 20th century.

He died in penury and squalor in January 1920 at the age of 35, discovered by a neighbour in the final throes of tubercular meningitis, his bed strewn with bottles of alcohol and cans of sardines, his mistress Jeanne Hébuterne nursing him. She hadn't thought to call a doctor, but her devotion to her lover was so great that, two days after his death, she threw herself backwards from a fifth-floor window. She was nine months pregnant with their second child.

He is regarded neither as an Impressionist nor a Post-Impressionist, although his work was said to be influenced by Cezanne (P-I); & I can see that.

He also reminds me of Gauguin (also P-I) in his Polynesian Period although Gauguin 's technique, perhaps reflecting his subject matter, perhaps not, is even cruder. (Post-Impressionists "considered Impressionism too casual or too naturalistic, and sought a means of exploring emotion in paint")

With all those elongated bodies, he is supposed to have been influenced by African art, particularly masks & sculpture, which he tried (Head. c. 1911 - 37 KB popup) for a short time, before it plumb tuckered him out and, after a rest at home with mum, returned to painting.

"His interest in African masks and sculpture remains evident, especially in the treatment of the sitters' faces: flat and mask-like, with almond eyes, twisted noses, pursed mouths, and elongated necks."

As with the Impressionists, although in an entirely different manner, I can also see a Japanese influence here and here.

In the winter of 1906 he decided to go to Paris [and] rapidly made a reputation for his excesses (he had a habit of stripping stark naked when drunk), and his nickname changed from the childish Dedo to Modi (a pun on the French maudit, or 'accursed')

Links to thumbnail images may be found at the bottom of this page (Oscar) - they blow up to much hugeness!

On Monday, December 3, 1917 a group of invited guests gathered in Berthe Weill's gallery for the opening of a Modigliani exhibition. It was the 33-year old artist's first one man show and would remain the only one in his lifetime. The presentation of roughly thirty drawings and paintings had come about through the efforts of Leopold Zborovski, who had been able to persuade the committed art dealer, Berthe Weill, to put on the exhibition. She had just moved her gallery into new rooms on the Rue Taitbout, close to the Opera.

It was Modigliani's bad luck that exactly opposite the gallery lay a police station, where the reason for the ever-increasing stream of visitors to the gallery was quickly noticed. Not only were a number of large-format nude paintings hung in the gallery rooms; for publicity purposes, one of Modigliani's elegant nudes had also been placed in the window. This was an attraction which caught the attention of many passers-by who stopped to take a closer look at the exhibition. This caused a small scandal which ended with the show being banned.

The exhibit may be found here:




These popups are nice:

Young Redhead in an Evening Dress 1918 (90 KB)

Seated Nude 1916 (47 KB)

Portrait of Madame Kisling c. 1917 (20 KB)


There are 105 things collected here at Olga's Gallery!


But this is by far my favourite:





lerevdr on Wed 12-Jul-2006 @ 22:32 e.s.t [permalink]
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