1918
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Klimt Modigliani Monet Bassin aux nymphéas The Woman Orientalism Flowers Animals Bird Children
See also : Klimt Modigliani Monet Bassin aux nymphéas The Woman Orientalism Flowers Animals Bird Children
masterpiece
1918 Suprematist Composition by Malevich
MoMA
In 1915 the Suprematism of Kazimir Malevich shakes forever the theories of art. To be pure, art should excite feelings without referring to a message. It is neither figurative nor religious nor political.
Malevich developed a new grammar reduced to three basic filled shapes, simple enough to escape a semiotic interpretation : rectangle, oval and cross. The perfect rectangle and oval are the square and the circle.
The white on white of 1918 comes in the follow. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Malevich developed a new grammar reduced to three basic filled shapes, simple enough to escape a semiotic interpretation : rectangle, oval and cross. The perfect rectangle and oval are the square and the circle.
The white on white of 1918 comes in the follow. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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1918 KLIMT
1
Dame mit Fächer
2023 SOLD for £ 85M by Sotheby's
The lifelong artistic quest of Gustav Klimt was the representation of the ideal woman, in conjunction with his project to revolutionize clothing and fabrics in partnership with his life companion the fashion designer Emilie Flöge.
The artist suddenly died on February 6, 1918 of a stroke and pneumonia brought by the Spanish flu, aged 55. Entering his studio, his friends found a masterpiece, just finished and still on the easel, his ultimate iteration of his preferred theme.
The lady with the fan is a beautiful woman in three quarter length with a sharply painted head in a richly decorated surrounding. Such a style follows early masterpieces such as Adele Bloch-Bauer I and The Kiss of 1907-1908, excepted that the application of the golden leaf is now superseded by motifs of the brightest colors : turquoise, yellow, pink, purple, orange.
The composition is now resolutely Orientalist, inspired by the Japanese prints and Asian robes which Klimt and Flöge eagerly collected. The new Austrian geisha wears a kimono that widely unveils the bare shoulder. The fan covers the breast. The yellow background is covered by a pattern of lotus blossoms of various shapes and colors plus a pheasant, a crane and a Chinese phoenix in flight, emblems of good fortune.
The woman is straight and confident, with a distant gaze ignoring the background and a small smile. She is charming with her curling hair around the ear. She is not identified : certainly not coming from the bourgeoisie of Vienna with her risqué kimono, this beauty was probably a professional model or a fashion mannequin.
This Dame mit Fächer, oil on canvas in the squared format 100 x 100 cm favored by the artist, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 11.6M (before fees ?) on May 11, 1994, lot 44, and for £ 85M on June 27, 2023, lot 125. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The artist suddenly died on February 6, 1918 of a stroke and pneumonia brought by the Spanish flu, aged 55. Entering his studio, his friends found a masterpiece, just finished and still on the easel, his ultimate iteration of his preferred theme.
The lady with the fan is a beautiful woman in three quarter length with a sharply painted head in a richly decorated surrounding. Such a style follows early masterpieces such as Adele Bloch-Bauer I and The Kiss of 1907-1908, excepted that the application of the golden leaf is now superseded by motifs of the brightest colors : turquoise, yellow, pink, purple, orange.
The composition is now resolutely Orientalist, inspired by the Japanese prints and Asian robes which Klimt and Flöge eagerly collected. The new Austrian geisha wears a kimono that widely unveils the bare shoulder. The fan covers the breast. The yellow background is covered by a pattern of lotus blossoms of various shapes and colors plus a pheasant, a crane and a Chinese phoenix in flight, emblems of good fortune.
The woman is straight and confident, with a distant gaze ignoring the background and a small smile. She is charming with her curling hair around the ear. She is not identified : certainly not coming from the bourgeoisie of Vienna with her risqué kimono, this beauty was probably a professional model or a fashion mannequin.
This Dame mit Fächer, oil on canvas in the squared format 100 x 100 cm favored by the artist, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 11.6M (before fees ?) on May 11, 1994, lot 44, and for £ 85M on June 27, 2023, lot 125. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
Ria Munk
2010 SOLD for £ 18.8M by Christie's
In the last century, the proliferation of images has fortunately removed the need of post-mortem portrait. The sudden death of a loved one made aware that his image would disappear, and the family had recourse to a painter or a photographer to preserve his look.
In 1911, the niece of a patron of Klimt makes a love suicide at the age of 24, and the painter gets the order of a portrait of the deceased. This is not an easy job, and the first two trials are rejected by the family.
At his death in 1918, Klimt left unfinished the full length portrait III of Ria Munk. The oil and charcoal on canvas, 181 x 90 cm, was sold for £ 18.8M from a lower estimate of £ 14M by Christie's on June 23, 2010, lot 34.
By its composition, it resembles the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907). Ria is life size. The face is sharp, and the gown and the background blend into a luxurious color scheme inspired by both Orientalism and Jugendstil.
In 1911, the niece of a patron of Klimt makes a love suicide at the age of 24, and the painter gets the order of a portrait of the deceased. This is not an easy job, and the first two trials are rejected by the family.
At his death in 1918, Klimt left unfinished the full length portrait III of Ria Munk. The oil and charcoal on canvas, 181 x 90 cm, was sold for £ 18.8M from a lower estimate of £ 14M by Christie's on June 23, 2010, lot 34.
By its composition, it resembles the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907). Ria is life size. The face is sharp, and the gown and the background blend into a luxurious color scheme inspired by both Orientalism and Jugendstil.
1918-19 Preparation of the Grandes Décorations by MONET
Intro
Monet had interrupted his series of Bassins aux Nymphéas in 1908. In 1914 he restarts this theme on larger formats while observing its decorative effect.
Times are hard forMonet. He had lost his son Jean just before the outbreak of the First World War. His sight becomes deficient. He decides to stay in Giverny whatever the future events and compensates his isolation by declaring his patriotism alongside his friend Clémenceau.
He builds in 1915 the barn studio in which he can paint entirely indoors his largest canvases, around 2 x 2 m, which he devotes to enlargements of small details.
This decorative ambition led him in 1917 to test two new panoramic formats, 100 x 200 cm and 130 x 200 cm, the largest dimension for which he is able to paint outdoors using a system of ropes and weights. These experiments bring more sense to the focusing of the picture onto the pond with its plants and its reflections but without shore or sky. He multiplies the sketches with as ever the greatest variety of colors expressing the different lights of the day.
In the wording of his time, Monet becomes a decorator, favoring effect and atmosphere rather than the figuration. In the language of our time, he is a precursor of the abstract sensitivity.
The project of dedicating a full exhibition room to a circular view of the pond is a breakthrough. Now Monet does not express the nature but instead the feeling of serenity which had become so rare and precious in war time.
Peace is back. Under the influence of Clémenceau, the project becomes a patriotic symbol, titled Les Grandes Décorations. Completed a few months before he died in 1926, it is made of eight compositions using 22 canvases in a unique height of 2 m for a total length of 90 m.
Times are hard forMonet. He had lost his son Jean just before the outbreak of the First World War. His sight becomes deficient. He decides to stay in Giverny whatever the future events and compensates his isolation by declaring his patriotism alongside his friend Clémenceau.
He builds in 1915 the barn studio in which he can paint entirely indoors his largest canvases, around 2 x 2 m, which he devotes to enlargements of small details.
This decorative ambition led him in 1917 to test two new panoramic formats, 100 x 200 cm and 130 x 200 cm, the largest dimension for which he is able to paint outdoors using a system of ropes and weights. These experiments bring more sense to the focusing of the picture onto the pond with its plants and its reflections but without shore or sky. He multiplies the sketches with as ever the greatest variety of colors expressing the different lights of the day.
In the wording of his time, Monet becomes a decorator, favoring effect and atmosphere rather than the figuration. In the language of our time, he is a precursor of the abstract sensitivity.
The project of dedicating a full exhibition room to a circular view of the pond is a breakthrough. Now Monet does not express the nature but instead the feeling of serenity which had become so rare and precious in war time.
Peace is back. Under the influence of Clémenceau, the project becomes a patriotic symbol, titled Les Grandes Décorations. Completed a few months before he died in 1926, it is made of eight compositions using 22 canvases in a unique height of 2 m for a total length of 90 m.
1
undated
2018 SOLD for $ 32M by Christie's
From 1914 Claude Monet conceives the project of the Grandes Décorations, which will occupy the last phase of his life and will be his artistic legation. In accordance with his signature artistic vision, these paintings will be limited to a specific theme shown in all the shades of the seasons, hours of the day and weather.
The artist is aging and suffering from cataract. This last theme is once again the nymphéas of his water garden which since 1904 satisfy his passion for gardening while being close to his workshop.
During the war years, the artist made about 60 paintings of his water lilies for trying his theme on large formats. The global design is gradually built. It then becomes necessary to test the panoramic formats. This new phase is made more challenging by his desire to concentrate the image on flowers and on reflections while eliminating the edges of the pond and the horizon.
In 1918 Monet buys the canvases necessary for this new series. He executes 14 paintings 100 x 200 cm and 5 paintings 130 x 200 cm over a short period ending in the following year. One of them is dated 1917 which is the year of the conception of this phase.
A Bassin aux Nymphéas 100 x 200 cm dated 1919 was sold for £ 41M by Christie's in 2008. A few other canvases have been cut. Dated in the same year, a 100 x 100 cm fragment whose other half is in a museum was sold for $ 27M by Christie's on May 12, 2016.
On November 11, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 32M an undated Bassin aux Nymphéas 100 x 200 cm, lot 32 A. This example offers a very pleasant homogeneity of tone between the blue reflections of the sky and the green reflections of the big trees. The flowers are rare.
The artist is aging and suffering from cataract. This last theme is once again the nymphéas of his water garden which since 1904 satisfy his passion for gardening while being close to his workshop.
During the war years, the artist made about 60 paintings of his water lilies for trying his theme on large formats. The global design is gradually built. It then becomes necessary to test the panoramic formats. This new phase is made more challenging by his desire to concentrate the image on flowers and on reflections while eliminating the edges of the pond and the horizon.
In 1918 Monet buys the canvases necessary for this new series. He executes 14 paintings 100 x 200 cm and 5 paintings 130 x 200 cm over a short period ending in the following year. One of them is dated 1917 which is the year of the conception of this phase.
A Bassin aux Nymphéas 100 x 200 cm dated 1919 was sold for £ 41M by Christie's in 2008. A few other canvases have been cut. Dated in the same year, a 100 x 100 cm fragment whose other half is in a museum was sold for $ 27M by Christie's on May 12, 2016.
On November 11, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 32M an undated Bassin aux Nymphéas 100 x 200 cm, lot 32 A. This example offers a very pleasant homogeneity of tone between the blue reflections of the sky and the green reflections of the big trees. The flowers are rare.
Christie’s Has $30m Monet Nymphéas from Penultimate Series https://t.co/yvnKWEfutg pic.twitter.com/T18M9LRHEs
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) September 27, 2018
2
undated
2010 SOLD for $ 24.7M by Sotheby's
During the last twenty years of his life, Monet maintained the pond in his garden at Giverny. His paintings of nympheas, however, are not repetitive but evolving. He put his subtle vision at the service of ever-changing views on the role and techniques of art.
Around 1906, as a true magician of light and perspective, Monet uses reflection to show the position in space of the invisible surface of the water. His touchis then impressionistic, with pastel tones.
Ten years later, he turns to more decorative effects on larger areas of canvas. The surface of the water is still controlled, but the line is sharper and the colors are more vivid. The nympheas of that time made Monet being considered as a major influencer of abstract art.
On June 24, 2008, Christie's sold for £ 41M a large 1919 painting, 100 x 201 cm. The image is focused exclusively on the pond with no shore and no horizon.
On November 2, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 24.7M an oil on canvas with similar qualities. Painted between 1917 and 1919, 98 x 198 cm, it is less quiet, with contrasting colors and swirling lines. It was sold to benefit a foundation helping young artists.
Around 1906, as a true magician of light and perspective, Monet uses reflection to show the position in space of the invisible surface of the water. His touchis then impressionistic, with pastel tones.
Ten years later, he turns to more decorative effects on larger areas of canvas. The surface of the water is still controlled, but the line is sharper and the colors are more vivid. The nympheas of that time made Monet being considered as a major influencer of abstract art.
On June 24, 2008, Christie's sold for £ 41M a large 1919 painting, 100 x 201 cm. The image is focused exclusively on the pond with no shore and no horizon.
On November 2, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 24.7M an oil on canvas with similar qualities. Painted between 1917 and 1919, 98 x 198 cm, it is less quiet, with contrasting colors and swirling lines. It was sold to benefit a foundation helping young artists.
1918 Coin du Bassin by MONET
Intro
During the preparation phase of the Grandes Décorations, Claude Monet was redeveloping his art as a whole. He had felt urged to achieve the culmination of his art in March 1918 when his beloved Giverny garden was threatened by an ultimate German counter-offensive.
His most spectacular studies were for the panoramic formats. He also selected a few corners in his garden for capturing in independent series the effects of light beside the shadows of a deep foliage.
These oil studies have sometimes been considered as precursors to the abstract expressionism. Indeed Monet was working on the specific beauty of dark hues half a century before Rothko prepared the Rothko Chapel.
Saule pleureur is a series of ten paintings on a theme aside from the pond, within the foliage of a weeping willow. An oil on canvas 130 x 110 cm was sold for £ 8.9M by Christie's on June 29, 2017, lot 14.
Le Pont Japonais is a series of 24 paintings made between 1918 and 1924. An undated example, oil on canvas 73 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 12.8M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 36A. Another one, also undated, was sold for $ 15.8M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2014.
His new vertical studies display some detail in the garden, including the float of the waterlilies.
His most spectacular studies were for the panoramic formats. He also selected a few corners in his garden for capturing in independent series the effects of light beside the shadows of a deep foliage.
These oil studies have sometimes been considered as precursors to the abstract expressionism. Indeed Monet was working on the specific beauty of dark hues half a century before Rothko prepared the Rothko Chapel.
Saule pleureur is a series of ten paintings on a theme aside from the pond, within the foliage of a weeping willow. An oil on canvas 130 x 110 cm was sold for £ 8.9M by Christie's on June 29, 2017, lot 14.
Le Pont Japonais is a series of 24 paintings made between 1918 and 1924. An undated example, oil on canvas 73 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 12.8M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 36A. Another one, also undated, was sold for $ 15.8M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2014.
His new vertical studies display some detail in the garden, including the float of the waterlilies.
1
1918
2021 SOLD for $ 51M by Sotheby's
A Coin du bassin aux nymphéas, oil on canvas 130 x 89 cm, was sold for $ 51M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2021, lot 26. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This painting keeps intact its original thick impasto used by Monet for new luminosity effects, in a mingling of many colors that anticipates Pollock.
This opus was dated 1918 by the artist. It was part of a few paintings released by Monet to the market in January 1919, split between Durand-Ruel and Bernheim-Jeune. This one was shared by both dealers.
This painting keeps intact its original thick impasto used by Monet for new luminosity effects, in a mingling of many colors that anticipates Pollock.
This opus was dated 1918 by the artist. It was part of a few paintings released by Monet to the market in January 1919, split between Durand-Ruel and Bernheim-Jeune. This one was shared by both dealers.
2
undated
2019 SOLD for $ 22M by Christie's
Viewed from a vantage point, an undated Coin du bassin aux nymphéas, oil on canvas 130 x 89 cm, was sold for $ 22M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 35A.
The aging Monet was certainly anxious when he made this specific painting. The incandescent light behind the trees of his own garden is otherworldly. He kept this highly personal work in his studio until his death.
The aging Monet was certainly anxious when he made this specific painting. The incandescent light behind the trees of his own garden is otherworldly. He kept this highly personal work in his studio until his death.
1918 MODIGLIANI
1
Le Fils du Concierge
2006 SOLD for $ 31M by Sotheby's
The young foreign artists who settled in Paris had not foreseen the war. Zborowski, arrived from Poland around 1910, takes their destiny in hand. Zbo and his wife organize in April 1918 the exodus to Cagnes-sur-Mer of Modigliani with his friend Jeanne and her mother, Foujita and his wife Fernande, and Soutine.
The group works for Zbo, and everyone is experimenting with new themes or styles. Soutine transfers his imbalances to the landscape. Foujita meets the old Renoir. Far from the war, Amedeo is hoping to recover his health.
Modigliani has also lost the contact with the professional models who had provided the bulk of his art. He observes the working classes of the Côte d'Azur, and is particularly interested in the psychological freshness of children.
Attitudes are stereotypical. The model strikes a pose seated quietly in a chair, hands clasped, and looks straight ahead. The less shy have their heads bowed to a side and their eyes are more lively. The variety of faces demonstrates the intention of stylized realism. They have in common with the nude women of Montparnasse that they arouse a strong but temporary empathy in the artist.
Le Fils du Concierge is identified by his father's occupation. He is a young son of the keeper of the villa where Modigliani resides. This oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm painted in 1918 was sold for $ 31M by Sotheby's on November 7, 2006 from a lower estimate of $ 14M, lot 38. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Two other portraits from the same year in the same format were sold by Sotheby's. One of them, showing a boy of about the same age, was sold for £ 18.4M on June 19, 2019. Garçon à la veste bleue was sold for £ 6.2M on June 21, 2004, lot 6.
Jeune homme roux assis, oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm painted in 1919, is in the follow of the series of seated young people by Modigliani. The handsome red haired guy between adolescence and a confident adulthood does not belong to the working class. The eyes are filled in cerulean blue.
It was sold for $ 17.6M by Christie's on May 6, 2014, lot 5. On May 12, 2021, Sotheby's sold for $ 16.4M Jeune Fille en bleu, lot 1023. This oil on canvas 100 x 64 cm was painted in soft tones throughout, in 1919, probably before they left the Riviera.
The group works for Zbo, and everyone is experimenting with new themes or styles. Soutine transfers his imbalances to the landscape. Foujita meets the old Renoir. Far from the war, Amedeo is hoping to recover his health.
Modigliani has also lost the contact with the professional models who had provided the bulk of his art. He observes the working classes of the Côte d'Azur, and is particularly interested in the psychological freshness of children.
Attitudes are stereotypical. The model strikes a pose seated quietly in a chair, hands clasped, and looks straight ahead. The less shy have their heads bowed to a side and their eyes are more lively. The variety of faces demonstrates the intention of stylized realism. They have in common with the nude women of Montparnasse that they arouse a strong but temporary empathy in the artist.
Le Fils du Concierge is identified by his father's occupation. He is a young son of the keeper of the villa where Modigliani resides. This oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm painted in 1918 was sold for $ 31M by Sotheby's on November 7, 2006 from a lower estimate of $ 14M, lot 38. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Two other portraits from the same year in the same format were sold by Sotheby's. One of them, showing a boy of about the same age, was sold for £ 18.4M on June 19, 2019. Garçon à la veste bleue was sold for £ 6.2M on June 21, 2004, lot 6.
Jeune homme roux assis, oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm painted in 1919, is in the follow of the series of seated young people by Modigliani. The handsome red haired guy between adolescence and a confident adulthood does not belong to the working class. The eyes are filled in cerulean blue.
It was sold for $ 17.6M by Christie's on May 6, 2014, lot 5. On May 12, 2021, Sotheby's sold for $ 16.4M Jeune Fille en bleu, lot 1023. This oil on canvas 100 x 64 cm was painted in soft tones throughout, in 1919, probably before they left the Riviera.
2
Jeune Homme Assis
2019 SOLD for £ 18.4M by Sotheby's
It is war, and life in Paris becomes difficult. Zborowski decides to look for new customers in the Côte d'Azur. From April 1918 to May 1919, Modigliani and Jeanne accompany Zbo and his wife, sharing their time between Nice and Cagnes.
Compared to Montparnasse, the circle of friends is smaller. Zbo no longer tries the experience of the nude, which had caused a scandal in December 1917 at the Berthe Weill gallery and had been a commercial failure. Amedeo begins to paint gentle portraits of children and adolescents. Zbo encourages him or at least lets him do it.
With these young people, all of them belonging to the popular classes, Amedeo seeks once again to sort some ideal mankind. As in his sculpted heads in 1911, each opus is different. The series includes several repetitive features, partially following the model of the Garçon au gilet rouge painted by Cézanne thirty years earlier.
The child is seen from the front, sitting with his hands crossed on his lap. Modigliani has not yet solved the issue of the eyes : the gaze is blank, giving an impression of quiet waiting while the painter is at work. The head is most often leaning to the side, bringing the expression of a confident intimacy. The shape of the eyebrows, ears, chin is enough to differentiate the child. The hairstyle and clothes are not standardized.
On June 19, 2019, Sotheby's sold for £ 18.4M the portrait of an unidentified young boy, lot 8. This oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm was painted in 1918. Sold by Zbo in 1927, it had never reappeared and was only illustrated by black and white photos. Its splendid range of warm colors was not known. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Compared to Montparnasse, the circle of friends is smaller. Zbo no longer tries the experience of the nude, which had caused a scandal in December 1917 at the Berthe Weill gallery and had been a commercial failure. Amedeo begins to paint gentle portraits of children and adolescents. Zbo encourages him or at least lets him do it.
With these young people, all of them belonging to the popular classes, Amedeo seeks once again to sort some ideal mankind. As in his sculpted heads in 1911, each opus is different. The series includes several repetitive features, partially following the model of the Garçon au gilet rouge painted by Cézanne thirty years earlier.
The child is seen from the front, sitting with his hands crossed on his lap. Modigliani has not yet solved the issue of the eyes : the gaze is blank, giving an impression of quiet waiting while the painter is at work. The head is most often leaning to the side, bringing the expression of a confident intimacy. The shape of the eyebrows, ears, chin is enough to differentiate the child. The hairstyle and clothes are not standardized.
On June 19, 2019, Sotheby's sold for £ 18.4M the portrait of an unidentified young boy, lot 8. This oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm was painted in 1918. Sold by Zbo in 1927, it had never reappeared and was only illustrated by black and white photos. Its splendid range of warm colors was not known. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
#AuctionUpdate Amedeo Modigliani’s sublime portrait of an anonymous youth from 1918 sells for £18.4 million. This exceptionally rare work had been in the same family collection since first acquired by Modigliani’s dealer in 1927 pic.twitter.com/8hVsSidCGj
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 19, 2019
3
Monsieur Baranowski
2017 SOLD for £ 16M by Sotheby's
Leopold Zborowski was a Polish exile in Paris during the war. This very young student wanted to become an art dealer and joined the artistic community of Montparnasse.
Modigliani knows everyone and loves to paint portraits of his fellow artists. Zborowski, who himself does not yet live in ease, captures his confidence by promising to supply him with an unlimited amount of drink.
Zborowski is now controling the artistic output of the best portrait painter of their time, and he organizes his career. He pushes Amedeo to specialize in those female nudes whose exhibition made a scandal at Berthe Weill gallery in December 1917 and provided a deserved fame to the painter.
The purpose of Zborowski is commercial. He now directs Amedeo towards achieving more mundane portraits for appealing the customers. Painted in 1918, probably early in the year, the oil on canvas titled Monsieur Baranowski, 112 x 56 cm, is one from that series.
Baranowski is very young. Elegantly dressed, he wants to make a career as an artist. With his pale skin, too long hair, charming mouth and an attitude mannered to the extreme, he appears as an androgynous.
The too formal title, Monsieur Baranowski, not providing the first name nor the abbreviated 'Bara', shows that this young esthete wanted to be seriously considered, and certainly indicates that Baranowski was in the circle of Zborowski without being intimate with Amedeo. This artwork is a wonderful psychological portrait of one of those weird people who constituted the bohemian life of Montparnasse.
It was sold for £ 16M by Sotheby's from a lower estimate of £ 10M by Sotheby's on March 1, 2017, lot 10.
Modigliani knows everyone and loves to paint portraits of his fellow artists. Zborowski, who himself does not yet live in ease, captures his confidence by promising to supply him with an unlimited amount of drink.
Zborowski is now controling the artistic output of the best portrait painter of their time, and he organizes his career. He pushes Amedeo to specialize in those female nudes whose exhibition made a scandal at Berthe Weill gallery in December 1917 and provided a deserved fame to the painter.
The purpose of Zborowski is commercial. He now directs Amedeo towards achieving more mundane portraits for appealing the customers. Painted in 1918, probably early in the year, the oil on canvas titled Monsieur Baranowski, 112 x 56 cm, is one from that series.
Baranowski is very young. Elegantly dressed, he wants to make a career as an artist. With his pale skin, too long hair, charming mouth and an attitude mannered to the extreme, he appears as an androgynous.
The too formal title, Monsieur Baranowski, not providing the first name nor the abbreviated 'Bara', shows that this young esthete wanted to be seriously considered, and certainly indicates that Baranowski was in the circle of Zborowski without being intimate with Amedeo. This artwork is a wonderful psychological portrait of one of those weird people who constituted the bohemian life of Montparnasse.
It was sold for £ 16M by Sotheby's from a lower estimate of £ 10M by Sotheby's on March 1, 2017, lot 10.
#AuctionUpdate Modigliani’s elegant depiction of an androgynous young man with fragile good looks, Portrait de Baranowski, soars to £16.1m pic.twitter.com/ubzOb6Mhcl
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 1, 2017
4
Jeune Fille assise en Chemise
2007 SOLD for $ 17M by Christie's
Modigliani took children as sitters during his 1918 stay in the Midi. A girl in her later teens thus appears in a sequence of three paintings.
The first picture displays a gentle intimacy. The seated girl has the strap of her nightdress negligently slipping from her shoulder, revealing a small rosy nipple. On the second canvas she lifts her hand over her naked pubescent breast. On the third picture both breasts are freed.
The first opus, oil on canvas 82 x 56 cm titled Jeune fille assise en chemise, was sold for $ 17M from a lower estimate of $ 9M by Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 54. The impression of sweet innocence is reinforced by her childish braids but contradicted by her sitting for a strip tease.
The first picture displays a gentle intimacy. The seated girl has the strap of her nightdress negligently slipping from her shoulder, revealing a small rosy nipple. On the second canvas she lifts her hand over her naked pubescent breast. On the third picture both breasts are freed.
The first opus, oil on canvas 82 x 56 cm titled Jeune fille assise en chemise, was sold for $ 17M from a lower estimate of $ 9M by Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 54. The impression of sweet innocence is reinforced by her childish braids but contradicted by her sitting for a strip tease.
