1917
Nudes by MODIGLIANI
Intro
The female heads carved by Modigliani around 1911 transcend all artistic styles in a quest for the ideal woman.
He stops practicing sculpture after 1914 for health reasons. He then specializes in portraits of Montparnasse artists. In 1916 Zborowski takes Amedeo's career in his hands, adding his many friends to the list of models. The young artist is already plagued by tuberculosis and alcohol. He has no money but that does not mind.
Modigliani was a prolific draftsman. He had learned during his artistic training to draw quickly. Close to the conceptions of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière where he will soon meet Jeanne, he knows how to carry out speedy studies of female nudes in poses where the natural prevails over the conventional.
The mingling of a psychological portrait with a full length total nudity stirs the ambition of Zbo. He chooses pretty young women whom he leads into an apartment where he has installed Modigliani. That small workshop contains two chairs, a sofa and a bottle of cognac. The artist is working alone with a girl paid by his dealer. He is paid 15 to 20 francs a day plus the drink.
The rest is easy to imagine. The woman has won her 5 francs for the session and is in a hurry to leave. The artist has little time. His painting is based on a drawing that brings to his best images a great spontaneity. The bare skin partitioned by the lines is painted in a warm color. The woman is lying or sitting on the bed, very simply, without decoration and without narrative effect.
The war time is not conducive to shameless exhibits. Modigliani's nudes are a scandal. the exhibition of Modigliani's nudes at the Galerie Berthe Weill in December 1917 is forbidden for indecency at its opening.
He stops practicing sculpture after 1914 for health reasons. He then specializes in portraits of Montparnasse artists. In 1916 Zborowski takes Amedeo's career in his hands, adding his many friends to the list of models. The young artist is already plagued by tuberculosis and alcohol. He has no money but that does not mind.
Modigliani was a prolific draftsman. He had learned during his artistic training to draw quickly. Close to the conceptions of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière where he will soon meet Jeanne, he knows how to carry out speedy studies of female nudes in poses where the natural prevails over the conventional.
The mingling of a psychological portrait with a full length total nudity stirs the ambition of Zbo. He chooses pretty young women whom he leads into an apartment where he has installed Modigliani. That small workshop contains two chairs, a sofa and a bottle of cognac. The artist is working alone with a girl paid by his dealer. He is paid 15 to 20 francs a day plus the drink.
The rest is easy to imagine. The woman has won her 5 francs for the session and is in a hurry to leave. The artist has little time. His painting is based on a drawing that brings to his best images a great spontaneity. The bare skin partitioned by the lines is painted in a warm color. The woman is lying or sitting on the bed, very simply, without decoration and without narrative effect.
The war time is not conducive to shameless exhibits. Modigliani's nudes are a scandal. the exhibition of Modigliani's nudes at the Galerie Berthe Weill in December 1917 is forbidden for indecency at its opening.
1
1917 Nu couché sur le Côté
2018 SOLD for $ 157M by Sotheby's
Nu couché sur le côté, oil on canvas 90 x 147 cm painted in 1917, was sold for $ 27M by Christie's on November 4, 2003 and for $ 157M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2018, lot 18.
It is the largest painting in this series and the only reclining nude by Modigliani to be displayed in all the extent of her arms and legs.
The attitude is not very erotic. The woman is seen from behind. The head turned for looking at the artist and the firmly sealed mouth reveal some impatience.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
It is the largest painting in this series and the only reclining nude by Modigliani to be displayed in all the extent of her arms and legs.
The attitude is not very erotic. The woman is seen from behind. The head turned for looking at the artist and the firmly sealed mouth reveal some impatience.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
2
1917 La Belle Romaine
2010 SOLD for $ 69M by Sotheby's
In 1917 Modigliani focuses on the painting of the nude to express his vision of the ideal woman. Sometimes the model is standing or lying, but the woman sitting naked on a couch, known as La Belle Romaine, is undoubtedly one of the best.
This oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm features a woman happy to be watched, confident, intimate. The painter is quite successful, with a purity of line and a warm tone of flesh which is the top of his art.
On 20 November 1987, the Parisian art market suddenly started to rise with the Georges Renand collection. La Belle Romaine was sold for FF 41M while another Modigliani, a Woman with Black Tie, was sold for FF 34M.
La Belle Romaine was sold by Sotheby's for $ 16.8M on November 11, 1999 and for $ 69M on November 2, 2010. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm features a woman happy to be watched, confident, intimate. The painter is quite successful, with a purity of line and a warm tone of flesh which is the top of his art.
On 20 November 1987, the Parisian art market suddenly started to rise with the Georges Renand collection. La Belle Romaine was sold for FF 41M while another Modigliani, a Woman with Black Tie, was sold for FF 34M.
La Belle Romaine was sold by Sotheby's for $ 16.8M on November 11, 1999 and for $ 69M on November 2, 2010. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3
1917 Nu Debout
2006 SOLD for $ 16M by Christie's
From the 20 female nudes of the 1917 series by Modigliani, 13 are reclining, 5 are seated and only 2 are standing, in frontal three-quarter length.
One of the standing women has the gesture of the Medici Venus, previously re-used by Botticelli in his Birth of Venus. A hand is hiding the sex in modesty while the other hand maintains a breast. The red hair is another tribute to Botticelli's painting. Also for the bent head but in the reverse direction. Gaze and mouth are quietly in some expectation.
This Venus pudica demonstrates that Modigliani still relied upon the best of art history in his quest of the perfect woman. He had admired both artworks in the Uffizi during his training stay in Florence in 1902-1903.
This oil on canvas 100 x 85 cm was sold for $ 16M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on November 8, 2006, lot 31. It had certainly been part of the forbidden exhibition at the Galerie Berthe Weill.
One of the standing women has the gesture of the Medici Venus, previously re-used by Botticelli in his Birth of Venus. A hand is hiding the sex in modesty while the other hand maintains a breast. The red hair is another tribute to Botticelli's painting. Also for the bent head but in the reverse direction. Gaze and mouth are quietly in some expectation.
This Venus pudica demonstrates that Modigliani still relied upon the best of art history in his quest of the perfect woman. He had admired both artworks in the Uffizi during his training stay in Florence in 1902-1903.
This oil on canvas 100 x 85 cm was sold for $ 16M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on November 8, 2006, lot 31. It had certainly been part of the forbidden exhibition at the Galerie Berthe Weill.
4
1917-1918 Nudo Rosso
2015 SOLD for $ 170M by Christie's
Amedeo Modigliani is a nice guy, able to establish an empathy with his short time anonymous visitors. He expresses tenderness and intimacy better than any other artist. He obtained this effect by a subtle color work. Pink is not warm enough to express the skin: the artist creates rich colors tending to reddish or apricot.
On November 9, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 170M a Nudo Rosso, oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm, lot 8A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This reclining nude is a masterpiece of harmony. The voluptuous curves emphasizes the confidence of the model with her back slightly arched above the couch and her outstretched arms. Eyes without pupils are monochrome, enabling the viewer to better capture the quiet waiting of her gaze. The wild locks on the forehead indicate that this ideal woman is a character from real life and not a model prepared for art.
Painted in 1917 or 1918, it is arguably one of the latest opuses in the series. Compared with works clearly attributed to 1917, it has a softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.
On November 9, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 170M a Nudo Rosso, oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm, lot 8A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This reclining nude is a masterpiece of harmony. The voluptuous curves emphasizes the confidence of the model with her back slightly arched above the couch and her outstretched arms. Eyes without pupils are monochrome, enabling the viewer to better capture the quiet waiting of her gaze. The wild locks on the forehead indicate that this ideal woman is a character from real life and not a model prepared for art.
Painted in 1917 or 1918, it is arguably one of the latest opuses in the series. Compared with works clearly attributed to 1917, it has a softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.
1917 Fräulein Lieser by Klimt
2024 SOLD for € 35M by Im Kimsky
Miss Lieser modeled nine times in Klimt's workshop in April and May 1917 from the commission of her Jewish Viennese upper middle class family that included the art patron Henriette Lieser. She is not firmly identified, with three possibilities aged 19, 18 and 16. Klimt made 25 preparatory studies.
In his own usual practice, he was painting many works in parallel with a very high attention to detail. Found in Klimt's studio at his untimely death in 1918, that unsigned portrait was not considered as finished by the artist.
It had not been in view since 1926 when it was probably owned by Henriette who died in deportation in Auschwitz. Its whereabouts are unknown until it was inscribed in the Art Loss Register in 2023 for a legal appreciation. There is no evidence to support that this particular work had been confiscated by the Nazis.
The young brunette is standing in front of a shimmering crimson and orange mixed background. She is wearing a full length shawl in the signature avant-garde brightly colored floral style of Klimt and his lifetime companion the dress designer Emilie Flöge. The face is balanced and pretty and the gaze is straight and confident.
In very good condition, the portrait of Fräulein Lieser, oil on canvas 140 x 80 cm, was sold for € 35M by Im Kinsky on April 24, 2024, lot 17. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In his own usual practice, he was painting many works in parallel with a very high attention to detail. Found in Klimt's studio at his untimely death in 1918, that unsigned portrait was not considered as finished by the artist.
It had not been in view since 1926 when it was probably owned by Henriette who died in deportation in Auschwitz. Its whereabouts are unknown until it was inscribed in the Art Loss Register in 2023 for a legal appreciation. There is no evidence to support that this particular work had been confiscated by the Nazis.
The young brunette is standing in front of a shimmering crimson and orange mixed background. She is wearing a full length shawl in the signature avant-garde brightly colored floral style of Klimt and his lifetime companion the dress designer Emilie Flöge. The face is balanced and pretty and the gaze is straight and confident.
In very good condition, the portrait of Fräulein Lieser, oil on canvas 140 x 80 cm, was sold for € 35M by Im Kinsky on April 24, 2024, lot 17. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1914-1917 Nymphéas by Monet
2022 SOLD for £ 23M by Sotheby's
Monet's new quest for a sublime style made him busy from May 1914 onward, when he was 73 ears old. In a global approach, he did not care to date most of his works.
The increase of the canvases is a feature of the first phase, from 1914 to 1917, through which the viewer will feel surrounded within an unframed view. A contrario in the same period, the smaller sizes reveal a specific trial.
On March 2, 2022, Sotheby's listed a 132 x 84 cm oil on canvas, in a vertical format which is rare for Monet in that period. It was sold for £ 23M from a lower estimate of £ 15M, lot 106.
The theme is not the pond but the formal arrangement of rare colors. The floating nymphéas fully mingle with the reflections in the water of the hanging branches of a willow. This nearly abstract composition is made of rich dark blue, purple and green that express dawn or twilight and prefigure Rothko's final experimentation of the 1960s.
The increase of the canvases is a feature of the first phase, from 1914 to 1917, through which the viewer will feel surrounded within an unframed view. A contrario in the same period, the smaller sizes reveal a specific trial.
On March 2, 2022, Sotheby's listed a 132 x 84 cm oil on canvas, in a vertical format which is rare for Monet in that period. It was sold for £ 23M from a lower estimate of £ 15M, lot 106.
The theme is not the pond but the formal arrangement of rare colors. The floating nymphéas fully mingle with the reflections in the water of the hanging branches of a willow. This nearly abstract composition is made of rich dark blue, purple and green that express dawn or twilight and prefigure Rothko's final experimentation of the 1960s.
#AuctionUpdate: The first of the masterworks on offer tonight by Claude Monet, ‘Nymphéas’ reaches £23.2 million. #SothebysModern pic.twitter.com/kSGoUuUSgC
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 2, 2022
1914-1917 Iris Mauves by Monet
2015 SOLD for £ 10.8M by Christie's
After several difficult years, Monet had a new creative fervor in 1914. He starts his large decorative project envisioned a few years earlier and which will eventually reconstruct in a showroom the atmosphere of his garden under the title Grandes Décorations.
He executes in a few years 250 oil paintings which are variations preparing this theme. He does not date these paintings, most of which remained unknown until his death. Yet they are highly innovative.
The mural purpose leads the artist to experiment with very large dimensions. Beyond about 200 Nymphéas included in this group, he explores new themes including the irises that grow at the edge of his pond.
On June 23 in London, Christie's sells Iris mauves, oil on canvas 200 x 100 cm painted between 1914 and 1917, lot 12 estimated £ 6M.
The tall and narrow format is unusual but perfectly suited to this portrait of wild flowers that anticipates O'Keeffe. The theme is also the pretext for a superb study of colors with these mauve flowers rising from green grass to be displayed over a background that gradually turns from blue to pink.
He executes in a few years 250 oil paintings which are variations preparing this theme. He does not date these paintings, most of which remained unknown until his death. Yet they are highly innovative.
The mural purpose leads the artist to experiment with very large dimensions. Beyond about 200 Nymphéas included in this group, he explores new themes including the irises that grow at the edge of his pond.
On June 23 in London, Christie's sells Iris mauves, oil on canvas 200 x 100 cm painted between 1914 and 1917, lot 12 estimated £ 6M.
The tall and narrow format is unusual but perfectly suited to this portrait of wild flowers that anticipates O'Keeffe. The theme is also the pretext for a superb study of colors with these mauve flowers rising from green grass to be displayed over a background that gradually turns from blue to pink.
From Monet to Miró: highlights from Christie's Impressionist & Modern sale http://t.co/77dgF9K6u7 pic.twitter.com/HYYHwl3cHC
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) June 3, 2015
1917 Brancusi at the Genesis of Art
2011 SOLD 14.9 M$ including premium
Brancusi, like many others, seeks the meaning and origin of world and life. In 1913, inspired by African art, he makes a wooden sculpture titled "le premier pas" (the first step). A baby makes his debut in the active life by trying to walk.
It is amusing to note that the great creative act of the metaphysical work of Brancusi is destructive. He breaks his wooden statue, keeping only the head. This new piece is ovoid, which is the perfect shape to symbolize the creation. Neither hair nor ears, nor neck.
With just the outline of an eye, of the nose and of the mouth, the egg becomes the head of a wailing baby, slightly larger than life, 26 cm long. It is entitled "le premier cri" and edited in 1917.
The copy for sale at Christie's in New York on November 1 is a polished bronze, with a high reflective effect. For such an outstanding work, the estimate, $ 8M, is conservative.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This bronze of a seminal sculpture by Brancusi was of course more outstanding than its estimate. It was sold $ 14.9 million including premium.
It is amusing to note that the great creative act of the metaphysical work of Brancusi is destructive. He breaks his wooden statue, keeping only the head. This new piece is ovoid, which is the perfect shape to symbolize the creation. Neither hair nor ears, nor neck.
With just the outline of an eye, of the nose and of the mouth, the egg becomes the head of a wailing baby, slightly larger than life, 26 cm long. It is entitled "le premier cri" and edited in 1917.
The copy for sale at Christie's in New York on November 1 is a polished bronze, with a high reflective effect. For such an outstanding work, the estimate, $ 8M, is conservative.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This bronze of a seminal sculpture by Brancusi was of course more outstanding than its estimate. It was sold $ 14.9 million including premium.
1917 The Marvelous Gates of Rodin
2010 SOLD 11.8 M$ including premium
Auguste Rodin is 40 years old in 1880. His genius is already recognized, since it is a French public institution which orders the production of a masterpiece: la Porte de l'Enfer (The Gates of Hell).
The artist imagines a monumental bronze door 6 feet tall, with several registers as the famous doors of the Baptistery of Florence. This project was the thread throughout his work, and his most oustanding sculptures have been conceived according to their position in this group.
The desire for a collector to have a bronze cast in Rodin's lifetime and in the size of the original clay model is easy to understand: it is a bit like having a real part of the prestigious door.
Two of the best known figures have gone up for auction in 2009.
On 3 November, Christie's sold $ 6.3 million including premium an early cast of le Baiser (the Kiss), 87 cm high, made between 1887 and 1901.
On 17 June in Paris (Hôtel Drouot), Mathias sold € 3.1 million including premium le Penseur (the Thinker), 71 cm high, cast by Rudier in 1917 a few months before the death of Rodin. This copy is characterized by a beautiful brown-green patina. After the sale, it crossed the Atlantic: it is estimated $ 4 million in the sale of Sotheby's in New York on May 5.
Le Penseur had been in a continuous improvement during the 37 last years of Rodin's life. The last version is the plaster of 1917, of which 3 bronze copies were cast. The Kiss had been removed from the Gates before this last version. No kiss in Hell !!! The Thinker is at the place originally intended for a figure of Dante which was never made.
POST SALE COMMENT
Now it looks obvious. The Thinker (le Penseur) had not reached its true price in Paris last year. The fact of crossing the Atlantic led it to $ 11.8 million including premium.
The artist imagines a monumental bronze door 6 feet tall, with several registers as the famous doors of the Baptistery of Florence. This project was the thread throughout his work, and his most oustanding sculptures have been conceived according to their position in this group.
The desire for a collector to have a bronze cast in Rodin's lifetime and in the size of the original clay model is easy to understand: it is a bit like having a real part of the prestigious door.
Two of the best known figures have gone up for auction in 2009.
On 3 November, Christie's sold $ 6.3 million including premium an early cast of le Baiser (the Kiss), 87 cm high, made between 1887 and 1901.
On 17 June in Paris (Hôtel Drouot), Mathias sold € 3.1 million including premium le Penseur (the Thinker), 71 cm high, cast by Rudier in 1917 a few months before the death of Rodin. This copy is characterized by a beautiful brown-green patina. After the sale, it crossed the Atlantic: it is estimated $ 4 million in the sale of Sotheby's in New York on May 5.
Le Penseur had been in a continuous improvement during the 37 last years of Rodin's life. The last version is the plaster of 1917, of which 3 bronze copies were cast. The Kiss had been removed from the Gates before this last version. No kiss in Hell !!! The Thinker is at the place originally intended for a figure of Dante which was never made.
POST SALE COMMENT
Now it looks obvious. The Thinker (le Penseur) had not reached its true price in Paris last year. The fact of crossing the Atlantic led it to $ 11.8 million including premium.
1917 Selbstbildniss mit kariertem Hemd by Schiele
2007 SOLD for $ 11.4M by Sotheby's
Egon Schiele would like to be the pioneer of a new art expressing the deepest of human nature that he observes without complacency up to pornography and self-derision. The self portrait is his ultimate art.
Selbstbildniss mit kariertem Hemd is an example that did not need any nudity. This gouache, watercolor and black crayon 45 x 30 cm made in 1917 was sold for $ 11.4M from a lower estimate of $ 4.5M by Sotheby's on November 7, 2007, lot 3.
The expression is an expectation, in contradiction with the head fully tilted on a shoulder as if he desired to perform some mannered absurdity from real life. The right hand is raised.
This piece has the characteristic spontaneity of a drawing without retraced lines. The checkered shirt and the skin are enhanced by bright colors. In contrast the torso is left blank.
Selbstbildniss mit kariertem Hemd is an example that did not need any nudity. This gouache, watercolor and black crayon 45 x 30 cm made in 1917 was sold for $ 11.4M from a lower estimate of $ 4.5M by Sotheby's on November 7, 2007, lot 3.
The expression is an expectation, in contradiction with the head fully tilted on a shoulder as if he desired to perform some mannered absurdity from real life. The right hand is raised.
This piece has the characteristic spontaneity of a drawing without retraced lines. The checkered shirt and the skin are enhanced by bright colors. In contrast the torso is left blank.
