Amedeo MODIGLIANI (1884-1920)
See also : Top 10 Painting Italy Sculpture Bust Italian sculpture The Woman Children Nude
Chronology : 20th century 1910-1919 1911 1917 1918 1919
Chronology : 20th century 1910-1919 1911 1917 1918 1919
1911-1912 Woman and Caryatid
2014 SOLD for $ 71M including premium
Amedeo Modigliani is a young Italian immigrant who is learning the tendencies of modern art in Paris at the Bateau-Lavoir. From his meeting with Brancusi he discovers the sculpture in direct carving, perfectly suited to his skills : Modi operates quickly and without rework.
Brancusi is one of the greatest innovators of sculpture. Reacting against the realistic details of clay and bronze, he is the first to seek beauty through basic and simplified forms that will lead him up to abstraction.
Brancusi and Modigliani find inspiration for their new styles in the antique and African arts. In 1910, Modi draws women topped with a tablette in reference to the Caryatids of the Erechtheion. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will be his temple of art.
Modi is not yet famous. He uses limestone blocks taken from construction sites and carries them in a wheelbarrow to his modest studio in Montparnasse. His heads of women create around him a crowd of pure and stylized faces with the intense force of a tribal ceremony.
On June 14, 2010, a caryatid bust 64 cm high including the cubic base was sold for € 43M including premium by Christie's.
On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells a bust, 73 cm high including the base, lot 8. The press release of October 3 is announcing an estimate in excess of $ 45M.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
Brancusi is one of the greatest innovators of sculpture. Reacting against the realistic details of clay and bronze, he is the first to seek beauty through basic and simplified forms that will lead him up to abstraction.
Brancusi and Modigliani find inspiration for their new styles in the antique and African arts. In 1910, Modi draws women topped with a tablette in reference to the Caryatids of the Erechtheion. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will be his temple of art.
Modi is not yet famous. He uses limestone blocks taken from construction sites and carries them in a wheelbarrow to his modest studio in Montparnasse. His heads of women create around him a crowd of pure and stylized faces with the intense force of a tribal ceremony.
On June 14, 2010, a caryatid bust 64 cm high including the cubic base was sold for € 43M including premium by Christie's.
On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells a bust, 73 cm high including the base, lot 8. The press release of October 3 is announcing an estimate in excess of $ 45M.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1911 Modigliani sculpted the Timeless Woman
2010 SOLD 43 M€ including premium
Amedeo Modigliani made a dazzling pass in the history of sculpture.
His female heads are a synthesis of all ages and all civilizations. They are simple as the Cycladic idols, noble as queens of Egypt, Mannerist as a Botticelli, mysterious as African masks, serene as deities, geometric like the art of his friend Brancusi. They are designed to be viewed as a group, such as the Cariatides of a Greek temple.
Made in a very limited quantity, they were dispersed. Only the artist in his small studio in Montparnasse, or some friends at an exhibition in 1911 or 1912, could breathe the mystical atmosphere of the whole.
One of these statues, made of Parisian limestone, 64 cm high including the cubic base, is on sale at Christie's in Paris on June 14. It is obvious that this lot, estimated € 4 million, is exceptional. It is shared in an article in French by Le Figaro.
Modigliani carved the stone in direct cut. In 1914, he had to give up his vocation as a sculptor for reasons of health and money. His brush was as clever as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of his time.
POST SALE COMMENT
The information provided by Christie's did not leave any possibility for doubt: this sculpture is a masterpiece. Result: € 43 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Christie's :
His female heads are a synthesis of all ages and all civilizations. They are simple as the Cycladic idols, noble as queens of Egypt, Mannerist as a Botticelli, mysterious as African masks, serene as deities, geometric like the art of his friend Brancusi. They are designed to be viewed as a group, such as the Cariatides of a Greek temple.
Made in a very limited quantity, they were dispersed. Only the artist in his small studio in Montparnasse, or some friends at an exhibition in 1911 or 1912, could breathe the mystical atmosphere of the whole.
One of these statues, made of Parisian limestone, 64 cm high including the cubic base, is on sale at Christie's in Paris on June 14. It is obvious that this lot, estimated € 4 million, is exceptional. It is shared in an article in French by Le Figaro.
Modigliani carved the stone in direct cut. In 1914, he had to give up his vocation as a sculptor for reasons of health and money. His brush was as clever as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of his time.
POST SALE COMMENT
The information provided by Christie's did not leave any possibility for doubt: this sculpture is a masterpiece. Result: € 43 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Christie's :
1911-1912 The Unfinished Temple
2019 SOLD for $ 34M including premium
Modigliani is easily convinced by Brancusi that the direct stone carving may bring an utmost purity to art. Opposed to Rodin's realism, the two artists are attempting a conceptual art that their detractors include in the Cubism still highly disputed at that time.
From 1909 to 1914 Modigliani is obsessed with a unique project : to build a temple dedicated to feminine beauty. To provide a roof for his monument, he tirelessly draws figures of caryatids which he calls his columns of tenderness.
Around 1911 he finally exerts his indisputable skills for sculpture in a series of limestone and sandstone women's heads. These elongated heads with a long neck on a cubic base are similar to each other but details of the faces are different. The varied heights show that the overall design of the temple is far from fixed.
All art critics have searched for models and styles that have inspired the timeless beauty of Modigliani's women's heads. They are indeed a synthesis of aesthetic conceptions of all times and all cultures.
Modigliani carved about 25 heads. In 1911 five of them are recognizable by photography in his solo exhibition organized with the help of Brancusi in the vast workshop of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. In 1912 the Salon d'Automne aligns seven heads in the Cubist Hall.
In 1913 Modigliani feels that his project of temple is ready. He chooses to use marble and visits Carrara. He carved only one caryatid. His fragile health will not allow him to do more. He abandons his great project and becomes a portrait painter again.
A Tête 64 cm high exhibited by Souza-Cardoso and at the Salon d'Automne was sold for € 43M including premium by Christie's on June 14, 2010. A 73 cm high Tête from the Salon d'Automne was sold for $ 71M including premium by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014. In limestone as the two examples above, a 51 cm high Tête carved around 1911-1912 with no early exhibition history is estimated $ 30M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 13, lot 31A.
From 1909 to 1914 Modigliani is obsessed with a unique project : to build a temple dedicated to feminine beauty. To provide a roof for his monument, he tirelessly draws figures of caryatids which he calls his columns of tenderness.
Around 1911 he finally exerts his indisputable skills for sculpture in a series of limestone and sandstone women's heads. These elongated heads with a long neck on a cubic base are similar to each other but details of the faces are different. The varied heights show that the overall design of the temple is far from fixed.
All art critics have searched for models and styles that have inspired the timeless beauty of Modigliani's women's heads. They are indeed a synthesis of aesthetic conceptions of all times and all cultures.
Modigliani carved about 25 heads. In 1911 five of them are recognizable by photography in his solo exhibition organized with the help of Brancusi in the vast workshop of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. In 1912 the Salon d'Automne aligns seven heads in the Cubist Hall.
In 1913 Modigliani feels that his project of temple is ready. He chooses to use marble and visits Carrara. He carved only one caryatid. His fragile health will not allow him to do more. He abandons his great project and becomes a portrait painter again.
A Tête 64 cm high exhibited by Souza-Cardoso and at the Salon d'Automne was sold for € 43M including premium by Christie's on June 14, 2010. A 73 cm high Tête from the Salon d'Automne was sold for $ 71M including premium by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014. In limestone as the two examples above, a 51 cm high Tête carved around 1911-1912 with no early exhibition history is estimated $ 30M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 13, lot 31A.
On May 13 we will offer Amedeo Modigliani’s limestone sculpture, 'Tête', circa 1911-1912, in our New York Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art.
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) April 18, 2019
Find out more: https://t.co/gMtuCZPqy8 pic.twitter.com/Tia9YIKeZC
1917 A Portrait for Fifteen Francs
2018 SOLD for $ 157M including premium
Amedeo Modigliani stopped practicing sculpture around 1914. He paints portraits of Montparnasse artists with their heads deformed by cubism. In 1916 Zborowski takes Amedeo's career in his hands, adding his many friends to the list of models.
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.
Zbo organizes paintings of nudes by Modi. He chooses pretty women whom he leads into an apartment-workshop where he has installed Modigliani. The artist is paid 15 francs a day and the model 5 francs for the session.
The rest is easy to imagine. The woman has won her 5 francs 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.
A Nu couché sur le côté, oil on canvas 90 x 147 cm painted in 1917, was sold for $ 27M including premium by Christie's on November 4, 2003. It will be sold by Sotheby's in New York on May 14, lot 18. The press release announces an estimate in excess of $ 150M. 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.
On November 9, 2015, Christie's sold a 60 x 92 cm Nudo Rosso for $ 170M including premium. This nude reclining on her back dated 1917-1918 seems indeed later by its softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
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.
Zbo organizes paintings of nudes by Modi. He chooses pretty women whom he leads into an apartment-workshop where he has installed Modigliani. The artist is paid 15 francs a day and the model 5 francs for the session.
The rest is easy to imagine. The woman has won her 5 francs 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.
A Nu couché sur le côté, oil on canvas 90 x 147 cm painted in 1917, was sold for $ 27M including premium by Christie's on November 4, 2003. It will be sold by Sotheby's in New York on May 14, lot 18. The press release announces an estimate in excess of $ 150M. 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.
On November 9, 2015, Christie's sold a 60 x 92 cm Nudo Rosso for $ 170M including premium. This nude reclining on her back dated 1917-1918 seems indeed later by its softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1917 A Nude Woman sitting for Modigliani
2010 SOLD 69 M$ including premium
For the third time, a masterpiece by Modigliani creates the event at auction.
In 1917, having abandoned the sculpture, 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, shows 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. It is illustrated on the press release shared by Artdaily.
Paris was quite prudish at that time, having probably already forgotten the friend women of Toulouse-Lautrec, and the exhibition of Modigliani's nudes at the Galerie Berthe Weill was forbidden for indecency at its opening. Our painting was perhaps one of them. Modigliani, a true great artist, had not deigned considering the academic decorum.
On 20 November 1987, the Parisian art market suddenly started to rise with the fabulous Georges Renand collection. La Belle Romaine, sold 41 MF, tripled the French auction record and leaved for Asia. At the same sale the other Modigliani owned by Renand, a Woman with Black Tie, was sold 34 million francs.
On November 11, 1999, la Belle Romaine is sold for $ 16.8 million including premium by Sotheby's in New York, world record at the time for a Modigliani.
It comes back on November 2 at Sotheby's in New York. The estimate is not published in the catalog but the press release told that it can fetch $ 40M.
POST SALE COMMENT
La Belle Romaine is a masterpiece that transcends all variations of the market. Whenever it appears on the market, its exceptional quality is confirmed. Its latest feat is at $ 69M including premium.
The file below is shared by Wikimedia :
In 1917, having abandoned the sculpture, 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, shows 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. It is illustrated on the press release shared by Artdaily.
Paris was quite prudish at that time, having probably already forgotten the friend women of Toulouse-Lautrec, and the exhibition of Modigliani's nudes at the Galerie Berthe Weill was forbidden for indecency at its opening. Our painting was perhaps one of them. Modigliani, a true great artist, had not deigned considering the academic decorum.
On 20 November 1987, the Parisian art market suddenly started to rise with the fabulous Georges Renand collection. La Belle Romaine, sold 41 MF, tripled the French auction record and leaved for Asia. At the same sale the other Modigliani owned by Renand, a Woman with Black Tie, was sold 34 million francs.
On November 11, 1999, la Belle Romaine is sold for $ 16.8 million including premium by Sotheby's in New York, world record at the time for a Modigliani.
It comes back on November 2 at Sotheby's in New York. The estimate is not published in the catalog but the press release told that it can fetch $ 40M.
POST SALE COMMENT
La Belle Romaine is a masterpiece that transcends all variations of the market. Whenever it appears on the market, its exceptional quality is confirmed. Its latest feat is at $ 69M including premium.
The file below is shared by Wikimedia :
1917-1918 The Ideal of Intimacy
2015 SOLD for $ 170M including premium
The still young artist endeavors to show the perfect woman while going beyond his own life plagued by tuberculosis and alcohol. Around 1911, the heads carved by Modigliani transcend all artistic styles.
In 1917, he found that ideal in the nude. He has no money but that does not mind. His small workshop contains two chairs, a sofa and a bottle of cognac. He is alone with a girl paid by his dealer. Zborowski had a good perception : the girls are pretty. Around them is war. The time is not conducive to shameless exhibits. Modigliani's nudes are a scandal.
Amedeo is a nice guy. He establishes empathy with those anonymous visitors for a day. 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 in New York, Christie's sells a Nudo Rosso, oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm painted in 1917 or 1918, lot 8A.
This reclining nude is a masterpiece of harmony, similar on that way as the Belle Romaine seated nude that was sold for $ 69M including premium by Sotheby's on November 2, 2010.
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.
The press release of September 3 announced a hope beyond $ 100M. Let me add a comment: this superb painting is worth such an expectation.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
In 1917, he found that ideal in the nude. He has no money but that does not mind. His small workshop contains two chairs, a sofa and a bottle of cognac. He is alone with a girl paid by his dealer. Zborowski had a good perception : the girls are pretty. Around them is war. The time is not conducive to shameless exhibits. Modigliani's nudes are a scandal.
Amedeo is a nice guy. He establishes empathy with those anonymous visitors for a day. 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 in New York, Christie's sells a Nudo Rosso, oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm painted in 1917 or 1918, lot 8A.
This reclining nude is a masterpiece of harmony, similar on that way as the Belle Romaine seated nude that was sold for $ 69M including premium by Sotheby's on November 2, 2010.
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.
The press release of September 3 announced a hope beyond $ 100M. Let me add a comment: this superb painting is worth such an expectation.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
1918 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.
Modigliani 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.
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.
Modigliani 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.
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.
1919 The Last Hope of Amedeo
2016 SOLD for £ 38.5M including premium
Amedeo and Jeanne entered together into the legend. When they met in 1917, Amedeo was 33 years old and Jeanne was 19. She sacrifices her desire to become an artist and becomes the companion of the cursed painter, alcoholic, drug addict, consumptive and moreover a Jew in a society that was not tolerant.
Peace is back. In 1919, Amedeo Modigliani is again able to reveal the ideal woman, as in the time of his sculpted heads of 1911 and 1912. For a long time his weakened health prevents him from cutting the stone. The sensual nudes painted in 1917 and 1918 brought a sinuous outline of the women's body. Warm colors worked with an extreme care provide comfort and kindness that show to which extent the interpretation of that hypersensitive artist as a wild genius is wrong.
The portraits by Amedeo of his intimates are recognizable but they are not realistic because they must represent an absolute. Small in life, Jeanne is tall for Amedeo. Her green eyes become intensely blue to express innocence and fidelity. The arms become more elongated with gestures that are altogether expressive and quiet and above all typically feminine.
On June 21 in London, Sotheby's sells at lot 12 the portrait of Jeanne au foulard (with scarf), oil on canvas 92 x 54 cm painted by Amedeo in 1919. The press release of June 6 announced an expectation beyond £ 28M.
The muse does not laugh : her mouth is again sulky, as in her other portraits. The specificity of this artwork is in the eyes drawn with visible pupils, increasing the emotional presence of the young woman just as if Amedeo had just decided to abandon his signature uniformly blue eyes. This painting could be one of the last portraits of Jeanne.
1919 was a year of great creativity for Modigliani. Here are two results for less empathetic portraits with eyes full of sky : £ 27M including premium by Christie's on February 6, 2013 for Jeanne au chapeau with a protective gesture of the hand ; $ 43M including premium by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015 for Paulette in the stiff attitude of her 15 years old.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's (below).
Peace is back. In 1919, Amedeo Modigliani is again able to reveal the ideal woman, as in the time of his sculpted heads of 1911 and 1912. For a long time his weakened health prevents him from cutting the stone. The sensual nudes painted in 1917 and 1918 brought a sinuous outline of the women's body. Warm colors worked with an extreme care provide comfort and kindness that show to which extent the interpretation of that hypersensitive artist as a wild genius is wrong.
The portraits by Amedeo of his intimates are recognizable but they are not realistic because they must represent an absolute. Small in life, Jeanne is tall for Amedeo. Her green eyes become intensely blue to express innocence and fidelity. The arms become more elongated with gestures that are altogether expressive and quiet and above all typically feminine.
On June 21 in London, Sotheby's sells at lot 12 the portrait of Jeanne au foulard (with scarf), oil on canvas 92 x 54 cm painted by Amedeo in 1919. The press release of June 6 announced an expectation beyond £ 28M.
The muse does not laugh : her mouth is again sulky, as in her other portraits. The specificity of this artwork is in the eyes drawn with visible pupils, increasing the emotional presence of the young woman just as if Amedeo had just decided to abandon his signature uniformly blue eyes. This painting could be one of the last portraits of Jeanne.
1919 was a year of great creativity for Modigliani. Here are two results for less empathetic portraits with eyes full of sky : £ 27M including premium by Christie's on February 6, 2013 for Jeanne au chapeau with a protective gesture of the hand ; $ 43M including premium by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015 for Paulette in the stiff attitude of her 15 years old.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's (below).
The greatest and most tragic #love story in #art history? #Modigliani's tribute to Jeanne https://t.co/Zyv622WeXg pic.twitter.com/uycU1vGQ5d
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 5, 2016
1919 Paulette
2015 SOLD for $ 43M by Sotheby's
Amedeo Modigliani came back from Nice to Paris in May 1919 with Jeanne and their baby Giovanna. Helped by Zborowski, he set up his studio rue de la Grande Chaumière. Peace had returned and a period of great creativity begins for the artist.
Since he had to give up sculpture because of his failing health, Amedeo is primarily a portrait painter. His models are the people around him in the art world of Montparnasse and humble fellows who cannot be his customers. His paintings are difficult to sell.
The portraits of seated models at the Grande Chaumière are set up similarly with small variations in the position of the hands and the orientation of the head. The format of the canvas increases, close to life size. Amedeo also works on the harmony of rare colors.
When Paulette Jourdain arrives at Montparnasse, she is a still a child at only 15 year old. She obtains to work as a housemaid for Zborowski. She is the last model of Amedeo in 1919, for a unique painting, just before he died in January 1920.
The three-quarter-length format with the hands clasped gently by her lap are direct references for Leonardo's Mona Lisa that Amedeo used to admire in Le Louvre while the impenetrable expression on her face also expresses a shyness of the girl.
The search for expression is dominant over realism with two signature innovations in Amedeo's art : a tall neck creating a neat distance between head and body and the eyes completely filled in blue that announce surrealism and are certainly a proof of kindness of the artist for his model in the stiff attitude of a teenager.
This portrait, oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 43M on November 4, 2015, lot 12T in the sale of the Taubman collection, and for HK $ 273M on October 5, 2023, lot 8512. Please watch the videos shared in 2015 and 2023 by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Paulette Jourdain had a lifelong involvement in art. She opened a gallery after Zbo's death in 1932.
Since he had to give up sculpture because of his failing health, Amedeo is primarily a portrait painter. His models are the people around him in the art world of Montparnasse and humble fellows who cannot be his customers. His paintings are difficult to sell.
The portraits of seated models at the Grande Chaumière are set up similarly with small variations in the position of the hands and the orientation of the head. The format of the canvas increases, close to life size. Amedeo also works on the harmony of rare colors.
When Paulette Jourdain arrives at Montparnasse, she is a still a child at only 15 year old. She obtains to work as a housemaid for Zborowski. She is the last model of Amedeo in 1919, for a unique painting, just before he died in January 1920.
The three-quarter-length format with the hands clasped gently by her lap are direct references for Leonardo's Mona Lisa that Amedeo used to admire in Le Louvre while the impenetrable expression on her face also expresses a shyness of the girl.
The search for expression is dominant over realism with two signature innovations in Amedeo's art : a tall neck creating a neat distance between head and body and the eyes completely filled in blue that announce surrealism and are certainly a proof of kindness of the artist for his model in the stiff attitude of a teenager.
This portrait, oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 43M on November 4, 2015, lot 12T in the sale of the Taubman collection, and for HK $ 273M on October 5, 2023, lot 8512. Please watch the videos shared in 2015 and 2023 by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Paulette Jourdain had a lifelong involvement in art. She opened a gallery after Zbo's death in 1932.
1919 Jeanne with Blue Eyes
2013 SOLD 27 M£ including premium
When Amedeo Modigliani paints the portraits of his friends, he idealizes the forms which he can no longer express through the sculpture that has become too tiring for his fragile health. And the perfect line, the charming sinuosity, the elongation of bodies are not the rediscovery of mannerism but the direct extension of his inspiration as a sculptor.
Jeanne is his muse. He met this nice girl in 1917 when she was 19 years old. Madly in love, he shows an ideal Jeanne, as he would like her to be.
In 1919, when Amedeo paints Jeanne Hébuterne au chapeau, the young woman has already born him a daughter, also named Jeanne. This oil on canvas, 92 x 54 cm, is an invitation to communicate. The gesture is nice, the pastel-like background is discreet, the eye position is straightforward.
These eyes which are the strong point of the image are nearly uniformly blue, as if the face so alive elsewhere of the sitter was only a mask to a dreamlike sky. The ongoing process of Modigliani to the representation of the ideal woman has led to this ultimate detail that makes him, quite unexpectedly, a precursor of surrealism.
Jeanne au chapeau was sold at £ 16.4 million including premium by Sotheby's on 19 June 2006. This painting is estimated £ 16M, for sale by Christie's in London on February 6.
POST SALE COMMENT
This portrait had every reason to be considered as a masterpiece. It was sold £ 27M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
Jeanne is his muse. He met this nice girl in 1917 when she was 19 years old. Madly in love, he shows an ideal Jeanne, as he would like her to be.
In 1919, when Amedeo paints Jeanne Hébuterne au chapeau, the young woman has already born him a daughter, also named Jeanne. This oil on canvas, 92 x 54 cm, is an invitation to communicate. The gesture is nice, the pastel-like background is discreet, the eye position is straightforward.
These eyes which are the strong point of the image are nearly uniformly blue, as if the face so alive elsewhere of the sitter was only a mask to a dreamlike sky. The ongoing process of Modigliani to the representation of the ideal woman has led to this ultimate detail that makes him, quite unexpectedly, a precursor of surrealism.
Jeanne au chapeau was sold at £ 16.4 million including premium by Sotheby's on 19 June 2006. This painting is estimated £ 16M, for sale by Christie's in London on February 6.
POST SALE COMMENT
This portrait had every reason to be considered as a masterpiece. It was sold £ 27M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
