1917
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Top 10 Italy Modigliani Klimt Schiele Brancusi Rodin The Woman Nude
See also : Top 10 Italy Modigliani Klimt Schiele Brancusi Rodin The Woman Nude
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.
Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine) (sold at Sotheby's New York on November 2, 2010, for $68.9 million), Nu couché (also known as Nudo Rosso or Red Nude, sold at Christie's New York on November 9, 2015, for $170.4 million), and Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) (the reference work, sold at Sotheby's New York on May 14, 2018, for $157.2 million) belong to Amedeo Modigliani's iconic series of reclining and seated female nudes, primarily executed in 1917 during his most productive and commercially driven period. These works were commissioned by his dealer Léopold Zborowski, who supplied models, materials, and a daily stipend in exchange for paintings, allowing Modigliani to focus intensely on the nude as his signature subject. The series (roughly 20–30 reclining/seated nudes from 1916–1919) modernized the genre by fusing Italian Renaissance influences (Titian, Botticelli), Ingres' linear elegance, Manet's confrontational eroticism, African sculpture's abstraction, and Cubist simplification into elongated, mask-like figures that exude confident sensuality without mythological pretext.
All three share Modigliani's hallmarks: sinuous contours, elongated necks and torsos, almond-shaped eyes (often pupil-less for a distant, introspective gaze), swan-like necks, warm flesh tones, and a rhythmic line that prioritizes lyrical sensuality over realism. The nudes portray modern women—bold, liberated, and erotically self-aware—amid the cultural shifts of wartime Paris. They shocked at Modigliani's sole lifetime solo show in 1917 at Galerie Berthe Weill (where several nudes were censored or covered due to public outcry), yet they affirm the female body as a site of dignity and desire.
Chronology of the Three Paintings
Modigliani's nudes lack precise day-to-day dating, but catalogues raisonnés (e.g., by Ambrogio Ceroni, Osvaldo Patani, and Christian Parisot) and auction scholarship place them within the core 1917 burst, with some extending into 1918. The series evolved from more vertical/seated formats to expansive horizontal reclinings:
Key Comparisons
All three share Modigliani's hallmarks: sinuous contours, elongated necks and torsos, almond-shaped eyes (often pupil-less for a distant, introspective gaze), swan-like necks, warm flesh tones, and a rhythmic line that prioritizes lyrical sensuality over realism. The nudes portray modern women—bold, liberated, and erotically self-aware—amid the cultural shifts of wartime Paris. They shocked at Modigliani's sole lifetime solo show in 1917 at Galerie Berthe Weill (where several nudes were censored or covered due to public outcry), yet they affirm the female body as a site of dignity and desire.
Chronology of the Three Paintings
Modigliani's nudes lack precise day-to-day dating, but catalogues raisonnés (e.g., by Ambrogio Ceroni, Osvaldo Patani, and Christian Parisot) and auction scholarship place them within the core 1917 burst, with some extending into 1918. The series evolved from more vertical/seated formats to expansive horizontal reclinings:
- Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine) — Painted circa 1917 (some sources note 1917–18).
This seated nude likely belongs to the earlier phase of the Zborowski-commissioned series, where Modigliani experimented with upright or semi-reclining poses before fully committing to horizontal reclinings. Its more compact, confrontational composition (model seated on a divan, legs extending off-canvas, arm coyly touching breast) suggests it precedes the grander reclinings in scale and ambition. - Nu couché (Nudo Rosso / Red Nude) — Painted 1917–1918.
This horizontal reclining nude with arms outstretched above the head falls in the mature phase of the series. The date range (often 1917–18 in Christie's catalogue and literature) places it slightly later than pure-1917 works, as Modigliani refined the open, languid poses and bolder chromatic accents (vivid reds in cushions/drapery) toward the end of his intensive nude production. - Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) — Painted 1917.
Firmly dated to 1917 in Sotheby's catalogue and Parisot's raisonné. As the largest and most contained horizontal nude, it represents a high point or culmination of the 1917 series—ambitious in scale and composition, likely painted after Modigliani had mastered the format through earlier variants.
Key Comparisons
- Composition and Pose:
- La Belle Romaine: Seated on a divan, legs forward/off-canvas, one arm touching breast/thigh in coy shielding gesture; head tilted, direct gaze; erotic tension via proximity and partial concealment.
- Nudo Rosso: Horizontal reclining (on back/slight side), arms dramatically outstretched overhead; open, languid vulnerability; figure dominates a cushioned surface.
- Nu couché sur le côté gauche: Horizontal reclining on left side, head turned back over right shoulder with confident gaze; body fully contained within frame (unique in series); arms bent, legs drawn up slightly for rhythmic flow.
- Scale and Format:
- La Belle Romaine: 100 × 65 cm (39⅜ × 25⅝ in.) — Vertical/medium, intimate scale emphasizes foreground projection.
- Nudo Rosso: 59.9 × 92 cm (23⅝ × 36¼ in.) — Smaller horizontal, focused intensity.
- Nu couché sur le côté gauche: 89.5 × 146.7 cm (35¼ × 57¾ in.) — Modigliani's largest painting; expansive grandeur allows complete figure inclusion without cropping.
- Color Palette and Atmosphere:
- La Belle Romaine: Warm amber/rosy flesh tones; radiant, intimate glow; sheet drapery adds softness.
- Nudo Rosso: Bolder reds (cushion/drapery/background accents, hence "Red Nude"); passionate, intense warmth.
- Nu couché sur le côté gauche: Richly modulated creams/pinks/ochres in flesh; white cushion against darker neutral background; luminous yet grounded sensuality.
- Mood and Significance:
- La Belle Romaine: Provocative modernity—coy yet complicit seduction; echoes Titian/Velázquez but with explicit sexual force; set early auction benchmark for Modigliani nudes.
- Nudo Rosso: Life-affirming eroticism; outstretched pose heightens vulnerability and openness; achieved highest auction price ever for the artist at the time.
- Nu couché sur le côté gauche: Poised confidence and monumental dignity; often called the "greatest" or masterpiece of the series due to scale, containment, and proud gaze; Sotheby's record holder.
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. The image is shared by Wikimedia. 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.
Responses by Grok :
Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 painting Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)—a reclining nude measuring approximately 35 by 58 inches—sold for $157.2 million at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 14, 2018. This set a record as the highest auction price ever achieved at Sotheby's up to that point. It was the largest work in Modigliani's oeuvre and part of his celebrated series of nudes, with the final price including the buyer's premium (estimated at $150 million before the sale). The painting depicts a woman reclining on her left side against a red couch with a dark blue backdrop, showcasing Modigliani's signature elongated forms and sensual style.
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.
Responses by Grok :
Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 painting Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)—a reclining nude measuring approximately 35 by 58 inches—sold for $157.2 million at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 14, 2018. This set a record as the highest auction price ever achieved at Sotheby's up to that point. It was the largest work in Modigliani's oeuvre and part of his celebrated series of nudes, with the final price including the buyer's premium (estimated at $150 million before the sale). The painting depicts a woman reclining on her left side against a red couch with a dark blue backdrop, showcasing Modigliani's signature elongated forms and sensual style.
- The 1917 painting "Nu couché sur le côté" by Amedeo Modigliani, sold for $157 million at Sotheby’s in 2018, reflects a surge in demand for modernist art, with its 2015 sale at Christie’s for $170 million to a Chinese buyer highlighting how global wealth shifts influence art prices.
- Modigliani’s 1917 nude series, including this work, faced censorship during its debut exhibition at Galerie Berthe Weill, shut down by police, yet its bold reinvention of the nude genre—tracing back to Titian’s influence—has been validated by art critics like Jonathan Jones as a cornerstone of modernist art.
- Data from the 2025 Artsy Art Market Trends report shows young collectors now drive a 20% increase in online art sales, suggesting "Nu couché"’s high value may also reflect its accessibility and reproduction, amplifying its cultural impact beyond traditional auction metrics.
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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.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
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.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- The November 2010 post by @ArtHitParade announces the $69 million hammer price for Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 nude "Nu Assis sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine)" at Sotheby's New York, shattering the artist's prior auction record by nearly double the $40 million estimate.
- This sale, totaling $79.6 million with premium, signaled a robust recovery in the Impressionist and Modern art market following the 2008 financial crisis, accounting for over 30% of the evening's $227 million total.
- Modigliani's stylized portrayal of a reclining Roman beauty, with its elongated limbs and vibrant ochre tones, drew from African influences and cemented his legacy as a modernist icon, previously undervalued during his tuberculosis-ravaged life ending in 1920.
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.
Compare Nu debout (sold by Christie's on November 8, 2006, lot 31) to La Belle Romaine.
Nu debout (also known as Vénus, Nu debout, or Nu Médicis / Venus (Standing Nude, Medici Nude), sold at Christie's New York on November 8, 2006, lot 31, for $13,456,000 / approximately $15.92 million including buyer's premium) and Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine) (The Beautiful Roman Woman, sold at Sotheby's New York on November 2, 2010, for $68.9 million) are both key examples from Amedeo Modigliani's celebrated 1917 series of female nudes, commissioned by dealer Léopold Zborowski during his most prolific period. These works belong to the roughly 20–30 nudes (oils and drawings) Modigliani produced in 1917, which modernized the genre by blending Renaissance influences (Titian, Botticelli, Medici Venus prototypes), Ingres' linearity, African sculpture's abstraction, and a bold, modern eroticism—often featuring elongated forms, mask-like faces, and unapologetic sensuality that provoked scandal at his December 1917 Galerie Berthe Weill exhibition.
Both paintings share Modigliani's signature style: sinuous contours, swan-like necks, almond-shaped eyes (often pupil-less), warm flesh tones, simplified anatomy, and a rhythmic elegance that dignifies the female body while celebrating liberated sexuality amid wartime Paris. They avoid classical allegory or mythological trappings, portraying confident, contemporary women.
Key Comparisons
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.
Compare Nu debout (sold by Christie's on November 8, 2006, lot 31) to La Belle Romaine.
Nu debout (also known as Vénus, Nu debout, or Nu Médicis / Venus (Standing Nude, Medici Nude), sold at Christie's New York on November 8, 2006, lot 31, for $13,456,000 / approximately $15.92 million including buyer's premium) and Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine) (The Beautiful Roman Woman, sold at Sotheby's New York on November 2, 2010, for $68.9 million) are both key examples from Amedeo Modigliani's celebrated 1917 series of female nudes, commissioned by dealer Léopold Zborowski during his most prolific period. These works belong to the roughly 20–30 nudes (oils and drawings) Modigliani produced in 1917, which modernized the genre by blending Renaissance influences (Titian, Botticelli, Medici Venus prototypes), Ingres' linearity, African sculpture's abstraction, and a bold, modern eroticism—often featuring elongated forms, mask-like faces, and unapologetic sensuality that provoked scandal at his December 1917 Galerie Berthe Weill exhibition.
Both paintings share Modigliani's signature style: sinuous contours, swan-like necks, almond-shaped eyes (often pupil-less), warm flesh tones, simplified anatomy, and a rhythmic elegance that dignifies the female body while celebrating liberated sexuality amid wartime Paris. They avoid classical allegory or mythological trappings, portraying confident, contemporary women.
Key Comparisons
- Pose and Composition:
- Nu debout (Standing Nude / Venus): Full-length standing figure, frontal or near-frontal pose with classical poise—arms relaxed at sides or one slightly bent, weight shifted in contrapposto-like stance (echoing the Medici Venus). The body is elongated vertically, with elongated torso and limbs; the head tilts slightly, gaze direct or distant; minimal background (neutral or subtle drapery) to emphasize the figure's sculptural presence.
- La Belle Romaine: Seated on a divan, legs extended forward (often partially off-canvas), one arm coyly touching or shielding the breast/thigh in a gesture of modest provocation; head tilted, direct gaze engaging the viewer; more intimate, foreground-dominant composition that brings the figure close to the picture plane.
- Scale and Format:
- Nu debout: Approximately 99.5 × 84.5 cm (39⅛ × 33¼ in.) — vertical format, nearly life-size scale enhances monumental, statuesque quality.
- La Belle Romaine: 100 × 65 cm (39⅜ × 25⅝ in.) — slightly taller but narrower, vertical/rectangular format suits the seated pose, creating a more compressed, intimate frame.
- Color Palette and Atmosphere:
- Nu debout: Subtle, luminous flesh tones (creams, pinks, soft ochres) against a restrained, neutral background; cooler, more classical restraint with emphasis on form and line over chromatic drama—evoking ancient sculpture brought to modern life.
- La Belle Romaine: Warmer amber/rosy flesh tones with radiant glow; softer drapery (sheet or cushion) adds tactile sensuality; more intimate warmth and immediacy.
- Mood and Significance:
- Nu debout: Dignified, almost hieratic poise—combines classical ideal (Venus/Medici reference) with Modigliani's modernist elongation and abstraction; less overtly erotic than reclinings or seated nudes, more contemplative and sculptural; set an early high benchmark for standing nudes in his oeuvre at auction.
- La Belle Romaine: Provocative and complicit—coy yet confident seduction, direct eye contact heightens erotic tension; exemplifies the "conquest of the nude" in his seated variants, with partial drapery adding tease; achieved far higher price in 2010, reflecting surging demand for his seated/ reclining nudes over standing ones.
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.
Response by Grok :
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.
Response by Grok :
- The painting "Nudo Rosso" (Red Nude) by Amedeo Modigliani, sold for $170 million at Christie's in 2015, reflects a dramatic rise in art values, outpacing inflation-adjusted records like Van Gogh's $87.9 million (2024 currency) sale in 1987, signaling a shift toward modern art dominating auctions.
- Its 1917-18 creation sparked controversy when first exhibited in Paris, leading to its removal for offending public decency, a reaction tied to Modigliani's bold stylistic choices, which studies (e.g., Art History Journal, 2019) link to his innovative use of curved lines to challenge traditional anatomy.
- The sale price, topping Modigliani's previous $70.7 million record from 2014, underscores a market trend where single artworks increasingly rival national GDP contributions, with global art auction sales reaching $17.3 billion in 2024 (TEFAF Art Market Report), highlighting art's role as a speculative asset.
5
Special Report
1917 Paris Show
Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 Paris exhibition was his only solo show during his lifetime—and one of the most infamous episodes in early 20th-century art history. Organized by his dealer Léopold Zborowski and held at the progressive Galerie Berthe Weill (located at 1 rue Laffitte in Paris, in the heart of the art district), it opened on December 3, 1917, and was intended to run through December 30, 1917.
Berthe Weill, a pioneering female gallerist who had championed avant-garde artists like Picasso (whom she exhibited as early as 1901), Matisse, and others, gave Modigliani this rare opportunity amid his intense 1917 production of nudes and portraits. Zborowski, who had been supporting Modigliani with a daily stipend in exchange for works, curated the selection heavily featuring the artist's recent reclining and seated female nudes—bold, elongated, sensuous figures painted mostly that year.
The exhibition included around 30 works: primarily oil paintings (many nudes) and drawings. While no complete official catalogue survives in detail, historical accounts and exhibition leaflets (including one with a poem by Blaise Cendrars on the reverse) confirm a focus on nudes such as seated figures on divans and horizontal reclinings. Examples from the series (though not all definitively confirmed as exhibited) include variants like Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine)-style seated nudes and reclining poses akin to Nu couché works.
The Scandal and Censorship
The show caused immediate outrage. Modigliani's nudes broke academic taboos by depicting pubic hair explicitly (a detail rarely shown in "respectable" art of the era, even in Manet's Olympia or other precedents), along with frank, modern eroticism, direct gazes, and unidealized bodies. On the opening day (or shortly after—accounts vary between December 3 and 4), the police intervened at the request of local authorities or complaints. The chief of police reportedly ordered the nudes removed from the window display (where they were visible from the street) and, in some versions, closed the exhibition entirely for a time due to their "obscene" nature.Weill and Zborowski protested, but the works were covered or taken down temporarily. The scandal drew crowds out of curiosity, yet sales were minimal—Weill reportedly sold only two drawings for 30 francs each. Despite the short-lived censorship, the exhibition resumed in a modified form and ran its course, marking a high point (and low point) for Modigliani's recognition during his life. It highlighted the tension between avant-garde liberation and conservative societal norms in wartime Paris (World War I was ongoing).
Significance
This event cemented Modigliani's nudes as provocatively modern—celebrating female sexuality with dignity rather than allegory or idealization—while underscoring his outsider status. The scandal boosted posthumous fame after his death in 1920; today, those same nudes command record prices (as seen with the works we've discussed). It also spotlights Berthe Weill's role as a trailblazer for women in the art world, recently celebrated in retrospectives at institutions like the Musée de l'Orangerie (2025) and others.In essence, the 1917 show was a brief, explosive flashpoint: artistic triumph mixed with public rejection, perfectly encapsulating Modigliani's bold, uncompromising vision.
Berthe Weill, a pioneering female gallerist who had championed avant-garde artists like Picasso (whom she exhibited as early as 1901), Matisse, and others, gave Modigliani this rare opportunity amid his intense 1917 production of nudes and portraits. Zborowski, who had been supporting Modigliani with a daily stipend in exchange for works, curated the selection heavily featuring the artist's recent reclining and seated female nudes—bold, elongated, sensuous figures painted mostly that year.
The exhibition included around 30 works: primarily oil paintings (many nudes) and drawings. While no complete official catalogue survives in detail, historical accounts and exhibition leaflets (including one with a poem by Blaise Cendrars on the reverse) confirm a focus on nudes such as seated figures on divans and horizontal reclinings. Examples from the series (though not all definitively confirmed as exhibited) include variants like Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine)-style seated nudes and reclining poses akin to Nu couché works.
The Scandal and Censorship
The show caused immediate outrage. Modigliani's nudes broke academic taboos by depicting pubic hair explicitly (a detail rarely shown in "respectable" art of the era, even in Manet's Olympia or other precedents), along with frank, modern eroticism, direct gazes, and unidealized bodies. On the opening day (or shortly after—accounts vary between December 3 and 4), the police intervened at the request of local authorities or complaints. The chief of police reportedly ordered the nudes removed from the window display (where they were visible from the street) and, in some versions, closed the exhibition entirely for a time due to their "obscene" nature.Weill and Zborowski protested, but the works were covered or taken down temporarily. The scandal drew crowds out of curiosity, yet sales were minimal—Weill reportedly sold only two drawings for 30 francs each. Despite the short-lived censorship, the exhibition resumed in a modified form and ran its course, marking a high point (and low point) for Modigliani's recognition during his life. It highlighted the tension between avant-garde liberation and conservative societal norms in wartime Paris (World War I was ongoing).
Significance
This event cemented Modigliani's nudes as provocatively modern—celebrating female sexuality with dignity rather than allegory or idealization—while underscoring his outsider status. The scandal boosted posthumous fame after his death in 1920; today, those same nudes command record prices (as seen with the works we've discussed). It also spotlights Berthe Weill's role as a trailblazer for women in the art world, recently celebrated in retrospectives at institutions like the Musée de l'Orangerie (2025) and others.In essence, the 1917 show was a brief, explosive flashpoint: artistic triumph mixed with public rejection, perfectly encapsulating Modigliani's bold, uncompromising vision.
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.
Evolution of Standing Portraits of Very Young Women by Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt's portraits of young women evolved significantly between his pre-Golden Phase and late period. The 1902 Portrait of Gertrud Loew (also known as Bildnis Gertrud Loew or Gertha Felsőványi) represents an ethereal, impressionistic style with soft, gossamer fabrics and a muted palette emphasizing purity and delicacy. The subject, a 19-year-old in a flowing white dress with lilac accents, stands full-length against a minimal background, evoking a dreamlike detachment.
By 1917, in Portrait of Fräulein Lieser (Bildnis Fräulein Lieser), Klimt's late style incorporates bolder colors, richer ornamentation, and a more vibrant background. The young sitter (likely from the Lieser family) is depicted frontally with a floral cape, blending naturalistic facial rendering with freer, expressive brushwork in the surroundings—reflecting his shift toward greater decorative intensity and vitality.
This progression shows Klimt moving from subtle, atmospheric lyricism to ornate, dynamic patterning while maintaining a focus on youthful femininity.
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.
Evolution of Standing Portraits of Very Young Women by Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt's portraits of young women evolved significantly between his pre-Golden Phase and late period. The 1902 Portrait of Gertrud Loew (also known as Bildnis Gertrud Loew or Gertha Felsőványi) represents an ethereal, impressionistic style with soft, gossamer fabrics and a muted palette emphasizing purity and delicacy. The subject, a 19-year-old in a flowing white dress with lilac accents, stands full-length against a minimal background, evoking a dreamlike detachment.
By 1917, in Portrait of Fräulein Lieser (Bildnis Fräulein Lieser), Klimt's late style incorporates bolder colors, richer ornamentation, and a more vibrant background. The young sitter (likely from the Lieser family) is depicted frontally with a floral cape, blending naturalistic facial rendering with freer, expressive brushwork in the surroundings—reflecting his shift toward greater decorative intensity and vitality.
This progression shows Klimt moving from subtle, atmospheric lyricism to ornate, dynamic patterning while maintaining a focus on youthful femininity.
1914-1917 MONET
1
1914-1917 Nymphéas
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
2
1914-1917 Iris Mauves
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.
Iris mauves, oil on canvas 200 x 100 cm painted between 1914 and 1917, was sold for £ 10.8M from a lower estimate of £ 6M by Christie's on June 23, 2015, lot 12.
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.
Iris mauves, oil on canvas 200 x 100 cm painted between 1914 and 1917, was sold for £ 10.8M from a lower estimate of £ 6M by Christie's on June 23, 2015, lot 12.
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 Le Premier Cri by Brancusi
2011 SOLD for $ 14.9M by Christie's
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.
A polished bronze with a high reflective effect was sold for $ 14.9M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on November 1, 2011.
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.
A polished bronze with a high reflective effect was sold for $ 14.9M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on November 1, 2011.
1917 Le Penseur by Rodin
2010 SOLD for $ 11.8M by Sotheby's
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 outstanding 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 a bit like having a real part of the prestigious door.
A 71 cm high example of le Penseur was cast by Rudier with a beautiful brown-green patina in 1917 a few months before the death of Rodin. It was sold for € 3.1M by Mathias on June 17, 2009 and for $ 11.8M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2010.
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. This figure is at the place originally intended for a figure of Dante which was never made.
Le Baiser had been removed from the Gates before this last version of Le Penseur. No kiss in 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 outstanding 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 a bit like having a real part of the prestigious door.
A 71 cm high example of le Penseur was cast by Rudier with a beautiful brown-green patina in 1917 a few months before the death of Rodin. It was sold for € 3.1M by Mathias on June 17, 2009 and for $ 11.8M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2010.
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. This figure is at the place originally intended for a figure of Dante which was never made.
Le Baiser had been removed from the Gates before this last version of Le Penseur. No kiss in Hell !!!
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.
