Amedeo MODIGLIANI (1884-1920)
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See also : Top 10 Italy Sculpture Bust Italian sculpture The Woman Children Nude
Chronology : 20th century 1910-1919 1911 1917 1918 1919
See also : Top 10 Italy Sculpture Bust Italian sculpture The Woman Children Nude
Chronology : 20th century 1910-1919 1911 1917 1918 1919
Intro
Life of Amedeo Modigliani: A Psychological Lens
Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920), born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Livorno, Italy, endured a life marked by chronic illness, poverty, addiction, and emotional turmoil. From childhood, he suffered severe health issues: pleurisy at age 11, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis diagnosed around age 16, which progressed to tubercular meningitis, killing him at 35. These illnesses shaped his psyche profoundly—he hid his tuberculosis to avoid stigma, often self-medicating with alcohol and hashish, leading to erratic behavior and blackouts. Biographers note this was less pure hedonism and more an attempt to mask frailty and pain, fostering a sense of isolation and fatalism.
His move to Paris in 1906 immersed him in bohemian Montparnasse, where poverty exacerbated his struggles. Relationships were intense and unstable: a tumultuous affair with Beatrice Hastings (1914–1916) and a passionate but tragic partnership with Jeanne Hébuterne, who committed suicide (pregnant with their second child) a day after his death. Psychologically, Modigliani embodied the "tortured artist" archetype—handsome yet self-destructive, aristocratic in demeanor despite destitution. His existential outlook, influenced by philosophy and poetry, reflected a search for authenticity amid suffering, with art as an outlet for inner turmoil.(Self-portraits from 1919, showing pallor and introspection possibly linked to his illness.)
Art Style and Psychological Interpretation
Modigliani's work—primarily portraits, nudes, and earlier sculptures—conveys deep psychological insight through simplification and distortion. Influenced by African masks, ancient Egyptian art, Brancusi's abstraction, and Renaissance masters like Botticelli or Parmigianino (e.g., Madonna with the Long Neck), his signature elongated faces, necks, and figures create ethereal, mask-like subjects.
Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920), born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Livorno, Italy, endured a life marked by chronic illness, poverty, addiction, and emotional turmoil. From childhood, he suffered severe health issues: pleurisy at age 11, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis diagnosed around age 16, which progressed to tubercular meningitis, killing him at 35. These illnesses shaped his psyche profoundly—he hid his tuberculosis to avoid stigma, often self-medicating with alcohol and hashish, leading to erratic behavior and blackouts. Biographers note this was less pure hedonism and more an attempt to mask frailty and pain, fostering a sense of isolation and fatalism.
His move to Paris in 1906 immersed him in bohemian Montparnasse, where poverty exacerbated his struggles. Relationships were intense and unstable: a tumultuous affair with Beatrice Hastings (1914–1916) and a passionate but tragic partnership with Jeanne Hébuterne, who committed suicide (pregnant with their second child) a day after his death. Psychologically, Modigliani embodied the "tortured artist" archetype—handsome yet self-destructive, aristocratic in demeanor despite destitution. His existential outlook, influenced by philosophy and poetry, reflected a search for authenticity amid suffering, with art as an outlet for inner turmoil.(Self-portraits from 1919, showing pallor and introspection possibly linked to his illness.)
Art Style and Psychological Interpretation
Modigliani's work—primarily portraits, nudes, and earlier sculptures—conveys deep psychological insight through simplification and distortion. Influenced by African masks, ancient Egyptian art, Brancusi's abstraction, and Renaissance masters like Botticelli or Parmigianino (e.g., Madonna with the Long Neck), his signature elongated faces, necks, and figures create ethereal, mask-like subjects.
- Elongation and Blank Eyes: The swan-like necks and almond-shaped (often blank or vacant) eyes evoke melancholy, introspection, and detachment. Psychologically, these may symbolize emotional isolation or a "mask" concealing inner vulnerability—mirroring Modigliani's own hidden illness and search for the "subconscious mystery" of humanity. Blank eyes suggest withheld soul or universality, inviting viewers to project emotion, while elongation elevates figures to a graceful, transcendent realm, blending fragility with elegance amid suffering.
- Portraits: Over 200 from 1916–1919 rely on color, shape, and omission for "emotional and psychological insight," emitting pathos. They capture sitters' inner lives (e.g., serenity in Hébuterne portraits) while "Modiglianizing" them—universalizing personal essence.
- Nudes: Sensuous and direct, they scandalized with frank sexuality, reflecting his obsession with the human form and perhaps his own sensual, womanizing tendencies.
- Sculptures: Early heads (1909–1914) echo portrait stylization, influenced by non-Western art for purity and form.
Tête
Intro
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.
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 cariatides which he calls his columns of tenderness.
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.
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. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will prepare his temple of art. The varied heights show that its overall design is far from fixed.
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 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.
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.
He 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. 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.
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. The bust heads were dispersed.
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 skilled as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of Montparnasse.
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.
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 cariatides which he calls his columns of tenderness.
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.
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. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will prepare his temple of art. The varied heights show that its overall design is far from fixed.
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 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.
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.
He 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. 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.
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. The bust heads were dispersed.
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 skilled as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of Montparnasse.
Special Report
Influence from Brancusi including African art
Direct Influence of Constantin Brâncuși on Amedeo Modigliani
Constantin Brâncuși exerted one of the most profound and direct influences on Amedeo Modigliani, particularly in shifting his focus toward sculpture and shaping his approach to form, simplification, and direct carving. Their relationship was both personal and artistic, rooted in the vibrant Montparnasse scene of early 20th-century Paris.
Personal Friendship and Introduction
Modigliani arrived in Paris in 1906 and initially worked as a painter. In 1909, through his patron Dr. Paul Alexandre, he met Brâncuși, a Romanian sculptor already pioneering modernist abstraction. The two became close friends and neighbors at the Cité Falguière studios in Montparnasse. Modigliani even drew portraits of Brâncuși (e.g., a 1909 pencil drawing now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), reflecting their intimacy.
Brâncuși encouraged Modigliani to prioritize sculpture, introducing him to direct carving (taille directe)—working straight into stone without modeling in clay first—and to non-Western art, including African masks and sculptures, which both admired for their primal essence.
Artistic Influence on Sculpture
From 1909 to around 1914, Modigliani dedicated himself primarily to sculpture, producing about 25-30 limestone heads (and a few caryatids), directly inspired by Brâncuși. Key elements borrowed include:
Art historians widely regard Brâncuși as the "single most important influence" on Modigliani's development, redirecting him from painting toward a quest for pure form. While Modigliani developed his own melancholic, elegant style—more figurative and expressive than Brâncuși's pure abstraction—the Romanian's emphasis on essence, direct engagement with material, and non-Western inspiration was foundational. This direct mentorship helped Modigliani bridge primitivism and modernism, leaving a lasting mark on his entire oeuvre.
Modigliani’s deep engagement with African sculpture was a transformative influence on his distinctive style, particularly the elongated necks, mask-like faces, almond-shaped eyes, and simplified, geometric features.
Discovery and Context in Paris
Modigliani arrived in Paris in 1906 and encountered African art amid the growing European fascination with “primitive” objects (then often called art nègre). Key access points included:
Specific Influences
Impact on His Work
Fang Ngil masks (from the Fang people of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon, primarily 19th–early 20th century) are among the most direct and frequently cited African influences on Amedeo Modigliani’s sculptures (c. 1909–1914), especially his series of elongated stone heads.
Key Similarities
The Ngil masks provided Modigliani with a model for radical simplification and expressive distortion. Brancusi’s introduction to them (via Paul Guillaume) helped shift Modigliani away from Impressionism/Art Nouveau toward abstraction. This is most evident in his sculptures, which then carried over into his painted portraits (e.g., the mask-like faces and elongated necks in Almaïsa and similar works).
The connection is not literal imitation but creative transformation: Modigliani took the spiritual power and formal purity of Fang masks and infused them with modernist introspection and sensuality, creating some of the most recognizable icons of 20th-century art. Visual side-by-side comparisons (Ngil mask vs. Modigliani Tête) highlight the striking formal parallels in silhouette, facial structure, and expressive calm.
Modigliani did not copy African art literally; he synthesized it with his Italian heritage, personal vision, and influences like Cézanne and Brancusi to forge a unique modernist language. This “primitivist” turn was part of a broader movement (Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, etc.), but Modigliani’s version is more lyrical and portrait-focused.
African art helped liberate Modigliani from naturalism, allowing him to distill human essence into elegant, universal forms
Constantin Brâncuși exerted one of the most profound and direct influences on Amedeo Modigliani, particularly in shifting his focus toward sculpture and shaping his approach to form, simplification, and direct carving. Their relationship was both personal and artistic, rooted in the vibrant Montparnasse scene of early 20th-century Paris.
Personal Friendship and Introduction
Modigliani arrived in Paris in 1906 and initially worked as a painter. In 1909, through his patron Dr. Paul Alexandre, he met Brâncuși, a Romanian sculptor already pioneering modernist abstraction. The two became close friends and neighbors at the Cité Falguière studios in Montparnasse. Modigliani even drew portraits of Brâncuși (e.g., a 1909 pencil drawing now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), reflecting their intimacy.
Brâncuși encouraged Modigliani to prioritize sculpture, introducing him to direct carving (taille directe)—working straight into stone without modeling in clay first—and to non-Western art, including African masks and sculptures, which both admired for their primal essence.
Artistic Influence on Sculpture
From 1909 to around 1914, Modigliani dedicated himself primarily to sculpture, producing about 25-30 limestone heads (and a few caryatids), directly inspired by Brâncuși. Key elements borrowed include:
- Simplification and abstraction: Brâncuși's ovoid, polished forms (e.g., Sleeping Muse, 1909-1910) emphasized essence over detail, influencing Modigliani's elongated, stylized heads with almond-shaped eyes, long noses, and serene expressions.
- Elongation and symmetry: Modigliani adopted Brâncuși's verticality and graceful contours, blending them with influences from African, Egyptian, and Cycladic art.
- Series of heads: Modigliani exhibited seven heads as an "ensemble décoratif" at the 1912 Salon d'Automne, echoing Brâncuși's serial explorations.
Art historians widely regard Brâncuși as the "single most important influence" on Modigliani's development, redirecting him from painting toward a quest for pure form. While Modigliani developed his own melancholic, elegant style—more figurative and expressive than Brâncuși's pure abstraction—the Romanian's emphasis on essence, direct engagement with material, and non-Western inspiration was foundational. This direct mentorship helped Modigliani bridge primitivism and modernism, leaving a lasting mark on his entire oeuvre.
Modigliani’s deep engagement with African sculpture was a transformative influence on his distinctive style, particularly the elongated necks, mask-like faces, almond-shaped eyes, and simplified, geometric features.
Discovery and Context in Paris
Modigliani arrived in Paris in 1906 and encountered African art amid the growing European fascination with “primitive” objects (then often called art nègre). Key access points included:
- The Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro (now Musée de l’Homme), where African masks and figures were displayed.
- Private collections and dealers like Paul Guillaume, who promoted African art alongside modern works.
- His friend and neighbor Constantin Brancusi, who introduced him to African sculpture around 1909–1910 while Modigliani apprenticed in sculpture.
Specific Influences
- Baule people (Ivory Coast): Elongated, heart-shaped faces narrowing to a pointed chin, with small mouths placed low. Modigliani sketched these and adapted the proportions for his sculpted heads and painted portraits.
- Fang Ngil masks (Gabon/Equatorial Guinea/Cameroon): Striking, abstract white-faced masks with elongated features and serene, otherworldly expressions. These are often cited as a direct source for Modigliani’s oval faces, blank or heavy-lidded eyes, and sense of inner contemplation.
- Broader African sculptural traits: Simplified geometric forms, elongated necks (symbolizing elegance or spirituality), flattened planes, and a focus on the head as the seat of identity/spirit.
Impact on His Work
- Sculpture (c. 1909–1914): Highly stylized limestone/c sandstone heads with long necks, almond eyes, and small mouths—direct translations of African forms. Many were intended as architectural elements like caryatids.
- Painting (especially 1915–1920, Zborowski period): The influence persists in portraits like Almaïsa. You see it in the swan-like necks, tilted heads, mask-like facial simplification, and psychological depth (eyes that seem to look inward or beyond). This creates a timeless, sculptural quality—figures feel like modern idols rather than realistic sitters.
Fang Ngil masks (from the Fang people of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon, primarily 19th–early 20th century) are among the most direct and frequently cited African influences on Amedeo Modigliani’s sculptures (c. 1909–1914), especially his series of elongated stone heads.
Key Similarities
- Elongated, oval or heart-shaped faces: Ngil masks feature a tall, narrow facial plane that tapers toward a pointed or rounded chin. Modigliani’s heads (e.g., Tête, limestone examples from 1911–1912) echo this vertical emphasis and graceful tapering, creating a columnar, sculptural silhouette.
- Almond-shaped or slit eyes: Ngil masks often have narrow, horizontal or slightly curved eye slits (sometimes with minimal pupils), giving a serene, introspective, or otherworldly gaze. Modigliani adapted this into heavy-lidded, almond eyes that are often blank or minimally detailed—conveying inner depth rather than literal sight.
- Simplified, geometric features: Both emphasize bold, clean lines—prominent arched eyebrows merging into the nose bridge, a long narrow nose, and a small, understated mouth placed relatively low. Surfaces are smooth with minimal modeling, prioritizing essential form over realism.
- Serene, mask-like expression: Ngil masks project calm authority and spirituality (used in initiation or funerary rites). Modigliani’s heads share this detached, contemplative quality—timeless and enigmatic, as if distilling the essence of a human (or divine) presence.
- Long necks (in Modigliani): While Ngil masks are often helmet-like or face-only, their overall verticality and elongation influenced Modigliani’s inclusion of swan-like necks, extending the mask-like head into a full sculptural bust.
- Synthesis: Modigliani did not copy the masks. He blended Fang influences with Cycladic idols, Egyptian art, Khmer sculpture, and his own lyrical sensibility, resulting in softer curves and greater elegance compared to the masks’ sometimes sharper geometry.
The Ngil masks provided Modigliani with a model for radical simplification and expressive distortion. Brancusi’s introduction to them (via Paul Guillaume) helped shift Modigliani away from Impressionism/Art Nouveau toward abstraction. This is most evident in his sculptures, which then carried over into his painted portraits (e.g., the mask-like faces and elongated necks in Almaïsa and similar works).
The connection is not literal imitation but creative transformation: Modigliani took the spiritual power and formal purity of Fang masks and infused them with modernist introspection and sensuality, creating some of the most recognizable icons of 20th-century art. Visual side-by-side comparisons (Ngil mask vs. Modigliani Tête) highlight the striking formal parallels in silhouette, facial structure, and expressive calm.
Modigliani did not copy African art literally; he synthesized it with his Italian heritage, personal vision, and influences like Cézanne and Brancusi to forge a unique modernist language. This “primitivist” turn was part of a broader movement (Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, etc.), but Modigliani’s version is more lyrical and portrait-focused.
African art helped liberate Modigliani from naturalism, allowing him to distill human essence into elegant, universal forms
1
1911-1912
2014 SOLD for $ 71M by Sotheby's
On November 4, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 71M from an estimate in excess of $ 45M a bust 73 cm high including the base, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This specimen had been exhibited at the Salon d'Automne.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- This 2014 X post previews a rare limestone sculpture, "Tête" (Head of a Woman, 1911-1912) by Amedeo Modigliani, for Sotheby's New York sale on November 4, featuring an image of the elongated, archaic-inspired head that exemplifies his short-lived sculptural period.
- The work, one of fewer than 30 surviving Modigliani sculptures, fetched $70.7 million—exceeding its $45 million estimate and setting a then-record for his three-dimensional output—amid a blockbuster evening sale totaling over $365 million.
- @ArtHitParade 's focus on auction milestones underscores Modigliani's market dominance, with his sculptures prized for their African-influenced forms and scarcity, as most were destroyed in a 1917 heatwave to pay his debts.
2
1911
2010 SOLD for € 43M by Christie's
One of these statues, made of Parisian limestone, 64 cm high including the cubic base, was sold for € 43M from a lower estimate of € 4M by Christie's on June 14, 2010. It is shared in an article in French by Le Figaro.
This specimen had been exhibited by Souza-Cardoso and at the Salon d'Automne.
This specimen had been exhibited by Souza-Cardoso and at the Salon d'Automne.
3
1911-1912
2019 SOLD for $ 34M by Christie's
A 51 cm high Tête carved in limestone around 1911-1912 with no early exhibition history was sold for $ 34M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, 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
Special Report
Zbo
Léopold Zborowski (1889–1932), a Polish poet, writer, and art dealer of Jewish origin, played a pivotal role as Modigliani’s primary patron, dealer, and close friend during the artist’s final and most productive years (roughly 1916–1920).
Meeting and Arrangement (1916)
Modigliani, struggling with poverty, tuberculosis, and alcoholism in Montparnasse, met Zborowski around 1916 through the bohemian art scene (possibly via mutual connections like Paul Guillaume). Zborowski, an aspiring dealer who had arrived in Paris around 1913–1914, quickly became Modigliani’s manager.
They struck a practical deal: Zborowski provided:
Support for Major Works
Zborowski’s backing directly enabled some of Modigliani’s most celebrated output, including many of the large-scale female nudes (1916–1917), which were painted rapidly in his apartment. The 1917 solo exhibition at Galerie Berthe Weill — organized with Zborowski’s involvement — featured these nudes and caused a major scandal (police intervention due to their perceived indecency), but it brought Modigliani significant notoriety.
Zborowski and his wife Anna (Hanka) Zborowska also sat for Modigliani, resulting in several intimate portraits. Modigliani painted Zborowski multiple times, capturing his intense, intellectual presence.
Promotion and Business Role
As a dealer, Zborowski actively promoted Modigliani (and also supported Chaïm Soutine and Maurice Utrillo). He:
Personal Friendship
Beyond business, Zborowski and his wife provided emotional and practical support during Modigliani’s turbulent relationship with Jeanne Hébuterne and declining health. Modigliani reportedly viewed him as a true believer in his genius at a time when many dismissed him. Modigliani’s last words reportedly included a message affirming Soutine’s talent to Zborowski.
Legacy
Zborowski’s role was essential in Modigliani’s late career productivity and the preservation/promotion of his work. Without this steady patronage in his final years, many iconic pieces — like the Almaïsa portrait from the Zborowski period — might not have been created or survived in the same way. Posthumously, Zborowski’s efforts helped elevate Modigliani’s reputation from bohemian outsider to one of the 20th century’s most recognizable modern masters.
Meeting and Arrangement (1916)
Modigliani, struggling with poverty, tuberculosis, and alcoholism in Montparnasse, met Zborowski around 1916 through the bohemian art scene (possibly via mutual connections like Paul Guillaume). Zborowski, an aspiring dealer who had arrived in Paris around 1913–1914, quickly became Modigliani’s manager.
They struck a practical deal: Zborowski provided:
- A daily stipend (around 15–20 francs).
- Art materials.
- Models (especially for the famous series of nudes).
- Studio space in his own apartment (at 3 rue Joseph Bara).
Support for Major Works
Zborowski’s backing directly enabled some of Modigliani’s most celebrated output, including many of the large-scale female nudes (1916–1917), which were painted rapidly in his apartment. The 1917 solo exhibition at Galerie Berthe Weill — organized with Zborowski’s involvement — featured these nudes and caused a major scandal (police intervention due to their perceived indecency), but it brought Modigliani significant notoriety.
Zborowski and his wife Anna (Hanka) Zborowska also sat for Modigliani, resulting in several intimate portraits. Modigliani painted Zborowski multiple times, capturing his intense, intellectual presence.
Promotion and Business Role
As a dealer, Zborowski actively promoted Modigliani (and also supported Chaïm Soutine and Maurice Utrillo). He:
- Organized exhibitions.
- Connected Modigliani with collectors (e.g., Jonas Netter).
- Later facilitated sales to major buyers like Albert Barnes (in partnership with Paul Guillaume).
Personal Friendship
Beyond business, Zborowski and his wife provided emotional and practical support during Modigliani’s turbulent relationship with Jeanne Hébuterne and declining health. Modigliani reportedly viewed him as a true believer in his genius at a time when many dismissed him. Modigliani’s last words reportedly included a message affirming Soutine’s talent to Zborowski.
Legacy
Zborowski’s role was essential in Modigliani’s late career productivity and the preservation/promotion of his work. Without this steady patronage in his final years, many iconic pieces — like the Almaïsa portrait from the Zborowski period — might not have been created or survived in the same way. Posthumously, Zborowski’s efforts helped elevate Modigliani’s reputation from bohemian outsider to one of the 20th century’s most recognizable modern masters.
1916-1917 Almaïsa
2026 for sale on May 18 by Christie's
Almaïsa, oil on canvas 92 x 53 cm painted by Modigliani in 1917 (sometimes dated 1916) is estimated $ 30M for sale by Christie's on May 18, 2026, lot 37A.
Almaïsa (also known as Seated Algerian Almaïsa or L’Algerina Almaïsa seduta), painted in 1916–1917 (catalogues vary slightly on the exact year).
This is a characteristic Modigliani portrait from his mature Paris period, associated with his dealer and patron Léopold Zborowski (“Zbo”). It was executed during the height of his work in Montparnasse, where he produced many elongated, mask-like female portraits and nudes. The work is currently offered by Christie’s in their 20th Century Evening Sale (Lot 37A), with an estimate of USD 30–40 million.
Key Details
The painting depicts a seated young Algerian woman, shown frontally or in a slight three-quarter view, occupying most of the vertical canvas. She sits upright with her hands likely in her lap or resting, creating a stable, columnar presence. The background is typically simplified and dark/neutral (often a muted blue, brown, or ochre tone in Modigliani’s style), pushing focus entirely onto the figure. There is little to no environmental detail or furniture, emphasizing the subject’s sculptural quality against a flat plane. The composition is tall and narrow, enhancing the elongated proportions.
Drawing Style
Modigliani’s signature linear, sculptural approach dominates:
The palette is restrained and elegant, typical of Modigliani’s portraits:
Almaïsa appears calm, poised, self-contained, and introspective—gazing steadily outward with a quiet confidence and dignity. Her expression is neutral yet engaging, neither smiling nor dramatic, conveying inner strength and serenity. This reflects Modigliani’s interest in capturing the sitter’s essential character or “soul” rather than literal likeness. As an Algerian model in Paris, she brings a sense of exotic presence tempered by modernist stylization.
This portrait exemplifies Modigliani’s Zborowski-period style: economic, expressive linework fused with sculptural form and emotional restraint. It stands out for naming the sitter explicitly (uncommon) and its strong provenance.
Almaïsa (also known as Seated Algerian Almaïsa or L’Algerina Almaïsa seduta), painted in 1916–1917 (catalogues vary slightly on the exact year).
This is a characteristic Modigliani portrait from his mature Paris period, associated with his dealer and patron Léopold Zborowski (“Zbo”). It was executed during the height of his work in Montparnasse, where he produced many elongated, mask-like female portraits and nudes. The work is currently offered by Christie’s in their 20th Century Evening Sale (Lot 37A), with an estimate of USD 30–40 million.
Key Details
- Medium & Size: Oil on canvas, 36 1⁄8 x 21 in. (92.3 x 53.4 cm).
- Signature: “Modigliani” (lower right) and titled “ALMAÏSA” (upper right).
- Provenance: Starts with Zborowski, then through Bernheim-Jeune, Netter collection, Beyeler, etc.; later Smooke collection; sold at Phillips in 2001. Private collection since.
- Exhibitions & Literature: Extensively documented and exhibited since the 1930s (Venice Biennale 1930, etc.). Multiple catalogue raisonnés reference it (Ceroni, Lanthemann, Patani, Parisot, etc.).
The painting depicts a seated young Algerian woman, shown frontally or in a slight three-quarter view, occupying most of the vertical canvas. She sits upright with her hands likely in her lap or resting, creating a stable, columnar presence. The background is typically simplified and dark/neutral (often a muted blue, brown, or ochre tone in Modigliani’s style), pushing focus entirely onto the figure. There is little to no environmental detail or furniture, emphasizing the subject’s sculptural quality against a flat plane. The composition is tall and narrow, enhancing the elongated proportions.
Drawing Style
Modigliani’s signature linear, sculptural approach dominates:
- Elongated neck and face with a mask-like quality (influenced by African and Cycladic sculpture).
- Almond-shaped, heavy-lidded eyes (often with one eye slightly higher or differently angled for psychological depth, though not fully crossed here).
- Simplified, flowing contours and minimal modeling; features are outlined with confident, fluid lines.
- Visible drawing in the ears and facial details, sometimes painted with color accents over the base. The neck and shoulders flow in graceful, swan-like curves.
The palette is restrained and elegant, typical of Modigliani’s portraits:
- Warm, earthy skin tones (ochres, pinks, and subtle oranges) with cooler highlights.
- Dark hair contrasting against the face and clothing.
- Clothing likely in dark or black tones with white accents (common for this work).
- Background in muted, somber hues (blues, browns, or grays) for tonal harmony.
- Overall effect: luminous yet restrained, with subtle color variations creating depth without strong chiaroscuro.
Almaïsa appears calm, poised, self-contained, and introspective—gazing steadily outward with a quiet confidence and dignity. Her expression is neutral yet engaging, neither smiling nor dramatic, conveying inner strength and serenity. This reflects Modigliani’s interest in capturing the sitter’s essential character or “soul” rather than literal likeness. As an Algerian model in Paris, she brings a sense of exotic presence tempered by modernist stylization.
This portrait exemplifies Modigliani’s Zborowski-period style: economic, expressive linework fused with sculptural form and emotional restraint. It stands out for naming the sitter explicitly (uncommon) and its strong provenance.
Almaïsa (1916–1917) is a quintessential example of Modigliani’s mature portrait style from the Zborowski period (1916–1920), when he produced many of his most refined and iconic female portraits and nudes. It shares the core hallmarks of his work while showing subtle variations based on the sitter and context.
Shared Characteristics Across Modigliani’s Portraits
Modigliani’s portraits from this era follow a highly stylized formula influenced by African sculpture, Italian Renaissance (e.g., Botticelli), and modernism:
How Almaïsa Fits and Compares
It stands out for being explicitly titled/named (uncommon for Modigliani) and for its Algerian subject, adding cultural nuance within the uniform style. Its vertical format, restrained colors, and poised attitude make it a pure distillation of the artist’s late mastery—elegant, introspective, and commercially desirable today.
In summary, Almaïsa is not an outlier but a strong representative of Modigliani’s Zborowski-era female portraits: instantly recognizable as his, yet individualized by the sitter’s presence. It exemplifies how he transformed real people into timeless, sculptural icons. For visuals, the Christie’s page or comparisons with Jeanne/Lunia works highlight these connections clearly.
Shared Characteristics Across Modigliani’s Portraits
Modigliani’s portraits from this era follow a highly stylized formula influenced by African sculpture, Italian Renaissance (e.g., Botticelli), and modernism:
- Elongated forms — Swan-like necks, oval or tilted heads, and attenuated bodies.
- Mask-like faces — Simplified features, almond-shaped (often blank or heavy-lidded) eyes, small mouths, and arched eyebrows.
- Psychological introspection — Sitters gaze directly or obliquely at the viewer with a calm, enigmatic, or melancholic detachment—capturing “essence” rather than literal likeness (Modigliani famously said he painted the soul).
- Restrained palette — Warm skin tones (ochres, pinks), dark hair/backgrounds, and muted earth tones or blues for harmony and elegance.
- Linear elegance — Fluid contours with minimal shading; flat, decorative surfaces.
- Vertical emphasis — Tall, narrow canvases that enhance the sculptural, columnar feel of the figure.
How Almaïsa Fits and Compares
- Seated female figure (likely clothed, as opposed to his nudes): Upright, frontal or three-quarter pose with a composed, dignified attitude. This mirrors many Zborowski-period works of women in simple settings.
- Stylization level: Classic elongated neck, mask-like face, and almond eyes. The named Algerian sitter adds a touch of exoticism, but the treatment is no less stylized than his European models.
- Mood: Calm, self-contained confidence—typical of his female portraits, conveying quiet strength rather than overt emotion.
- Portraits of Jeanne Hébuterne (Modigliani’s common-law wife, painted extensively 1917–1920): Often warmer, more intimate, and gently curved, with reddish hair and softer expressions (sometimes tilted heads or reclining poses). Almaïsa feels more formal and distant by comparison, like a studio model rather than a personal muse. Jeanne’s portraits can show greater tenderness or vulnerability.
- Portraits of Lunia Czechowska (another frequent model/friend, e.g., 1917–1919): Very similar in elegance and refinement—elongated features, direct gaze, and sophisticated poise. Lunia’s portraits often have a serene, almost aristocratic air; Almaïsa aligns closely but may feel slightly more “exotic” due to the sitter’s background.
- Portraits of Anna (Hanka) Zborowska (Zborowski’s wife, multiple versions 1916–1919): Strong parallels in composition and stylization. These are often larger or more dynamic, with patterned clothing or diagonal poses. Almaïsa shares the Zborowski-circle intimacy and support but depicts a different model.
- Male portraits (e.g., of Zborowski himself, Paul Guillaume, or artists like Soutine): More angular or intense, sometimes with sharper features or varied expressions. Female portraits like Almaïsa tend to be more graceful and idealized.
- Earlier portraits (pre-1916, e.g., of Beatrice Hastings): Less refined stylization—more varied poses, sometimes harsher or more experimental. The Zborowski period (including Almaïsa) shows greater consistency, economy of means, and mastery of the signature elongated aesthetic.
- Nudes (many from the same period, also enabled by Zborowski): Share the elongated bodies and mask-like faces but focus on the figure’s form and sensuality rather than clothed portraiture. Almaïsa bridges portrait and figure traditions.
It stands out for being explicitly titled/named (uncommon for Modigliani) and for its Algerian subject, adding cultural nuance within the uniform style. Its vertical format, restrained colors, and poised attitude make it a pure distillation of the artist’s late mastery—elegant, introspective, and commercially desirable today.
In summary, Almaïsa is not an outlier but a strong representative of Modigliani’s Zborowski-era female portraits: instantly recognizable as his, yet individualized by the sitter’s presence. It exemplifies how he transformed real people into timeless, sculptural icons. For visuals, the Christie’s page or comparisons with Jeanne/Lunia works highlight these connections clearly.
Nu
Intro
From 1909 to 1913 Amedeo Modigliani had worked almost exclusively in sculpture. His poor health made him returning to oil painting, executing portraits of fellow Montparnasse artists with their heads deformed by cubism.
Beatrice Hastings, the highly unconventional "poétesse anglaise", arrives in Montparnasse in 1914, appealed by the bohemian life, and begins an affair with Modigliani. They part from one another in 1916 after two years of debauchery and quarrels.
This short period built the image of a villain Modigliani as a temperamental artist, an Italian womanizer, a heavy drinker, defined by Beatrice as altogether a swine and a pearl. A few years later his fair behavior with Jeanne Hébuterne will not be sufficient to rehabilitate him.
Amedeo painted 14 portraits of Beatrice in all the features of her excessive temper, from charming or vulnerable to arrogant or witty. She wore in a ball a trompe l'oeil dress painted by him on her naked body.
Beatrice Hastings devant une porte is a half length portrait painted in 1915 in the stylized pose of his former sculpted ideal women and caryatids. A gentle and elegant Beatrice has an elongated neck and wears a stylish plumed hat. This oil on canvas 81 x 46 cm was sold for $ 17.6M by Christie's on November 17, 2022, lot 9.
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.
Beatrice Hastings, the highly unconventional "poétesse anglaise", arrives in Montparnasse in 1914, appealed by the bohemian life, and begins an affair with Modigliani. They part from one another in 1916 after two years of debauchery and quarrels.
This short period built the image of a villain Modigliani as a temperamental artist, an Italian womanizer, a heavy drinker, defined by Beatrice as altogether a swine and a pearl. A few years later his fair behavior with Jeanne Hébuterne will not be sufficient to rehabilitate him.
Amedeo painted 14 portraits of Beatrice in all the features of her excessive temper, from charming or vulnerable to arrogant or witty. She wore in a ball a trompe l'oeil dress painted by him on her naked body.
Beatrice Hastings devant une porte is a half length portrait painted in 1915 in the stylized pose of his former sculpted ideal women and caryatids. A gentle and elegant Beatrice has an elongated neck and wears a stylish plumed hat. This oil on canvas 81 x 46 cm was sold for $ 17.6M by Christie's on November 17, 2022, lot 9.
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.
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. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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.
2
1917 La Belle Romaine
2010 SOLD for $ 69M by Sotheby's
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.
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 November 20, 1987, the Parisian art market suddenly started to rise with the fabulous Georges Renand collection. La Belle Romaine, sold for FF 41M, 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 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 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.
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 November 20, 1987, the Parisian art market suddenly started to rise with the fabulous Georges Renand collection. La Belle Romaine, sold for FF 41M, 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 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
1917-1918 Nudo Rosso
2015 SOLD for $ 170M by Christie's
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, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 170M from an estimate over $ 100M an oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm painted in 1917 or 1918, lot 8A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This Nudo Rosso looks to be a later example in that 1917-1918 series by its softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.
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.
Response by Grok :
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, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 170M from an estimate over $ 100M an oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm painted in 1917 or 1918, lot 8A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This Nudo Rosso looks to be a later example in that 1917-1918 series by its softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.
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.
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.
4
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.
1918 Le Fils du Concierge
2006 SOLD for $ 31M by Sotheby's
Amedeo Modigliani's wartime stay in Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1918 occurred amid World War I, when he left Paris in spring 1918 (around April or May) due to health issues (tuberculosis), fear of German invasion/bombing, and the warmer climate's potential benefits. He traveled south with his pregnant partner Jeanne Hébuterne, her mother, and a group funded by dealer Léopold Zborowski, including artists like Chaïm Soutine, Tsuguharu Foujita and his wife Fernande Barrey, and others from the Montparnasse circle. They initially stayed in Cagnes-sur-Mer (sometimes at a villa like "Le Pavillon des Trois Soeurs"), later moving to Nice when funds ran low.
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.
In the South Modigliani has 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.
Modigliani painted portraits of friends and locals (e.g., peasants, servants, shop girls), a few rare landscapes (only four in his career, all from this southern period), and continued nudes/figures. The stay lasted into 1919, diversifying models beyond his usual circle, though he preferred portraiture over landscapes. This period marked maturity, with brighter colors, thinner paint application, and focus on elongated, melancholic figures.
Portraits of friends during/around this time often featured known associates (e.g., portraits of Blaise Cendrars, Léopold Survage, or figures linked to the group like Fernande Barrey herself in clothed portraits). These contrast with the anonymous girls of the 1917 "scandal" — the largely unidentified professional models in the reclining/seated nudes shown at Galerie Berthe Weill in December 1917. That exhibition caused outrage (police intervention, removal of nudes due to explicit pubic hair, direct gazes, and frank eroticism amid wartime conservatism), leading to censorship. Those 1917 works emphasized anonymous, sensual, modern reinterpretations of Venetian/Renaissance nudes (e.g., Titian, Giorgione), with bold sexuality and unidealized bodies. Friends' portraits (like those in the south) were more personal, psychological, and tied to his intimate circle, often clothed or semi-clothed, focusing on melancholy introspection rather than overt eroticism.
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.
Modigliani took children as sitters during that 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 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.
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.
In 1918-1919, Modigliani executed several paintings of Elvire, a local adolescent girl : Nu debout, au col blanc, accoudée à la table.
Elvire en buste is a full front bust picture featuring the girl with a nascent rosy breast in intimacy, in the nude down to below the nipples. The background is a bright pale blue. Same as other portraits of children by the artist, the attitude mingles repose and tension. The almond shaped eyes are devoid of pupils. This oil on canvas 65 x 46 cm was sold for € 27M by Sotheby's on October 24, 2025, lot 116.
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.
In the South Modigliani has 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.
Modigliani painted portraits of friends and locals (e.g., peasants, servants, shop girls), a few rare landscapes (only four in his career, all from this southern period), and continued nudes/figures. The stay lasted into 1919, diversifying models beyond his usual circle, though he preferred portraiture over landscapes. This period marked maturity, with brighter colors, thinner paint application, and focus on elongated, melancholic figures.
Portraits of friends during/around this time often featured known associates (e.g., portraits of Blaise Cendrars, Léopold Survage, or figures linked to the group like Fernande Barrey herself in clothed portraits). These contrast with the anonymous girls of the 1917 "scandal" — the largely unidentified professional models in the reclining/seated nudes shown at Galerie Berthe Weill in December 1917. That exhibition caused outrage (police intervention, removal of nudes due to explicit pubic hair, direct gazes, and frank eroticism amid wartime conservatism), leading to censorship. Those 1917 works emphasized anonymous, sensual, modern reinterpretations of Venetian/Renaissance nudes (e.g., Titian, Giorgione), with bold sexuality and unidealized bodies. Friends' portraits (like those in the south) were more personal, psychological, and tied to his intimate circle, often clothed or semi-clothed, focusing on melancholy introspection rather than overt eroticism.
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.
Modigliani took children as sitters during that 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 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.
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.
In 1918-1919, Modigliani executed several paintings of Elvire, a local adolescent girl : Nu debout, au col blanc, accoudée à la table.
Elvire en buste is a full front bust picture featuring the girl with a nascent rosy breast in intimacy, in the nude down to below the nipples. The background is a bright pale blue. Same as other portraits of children by the artist, the attitude mingles repose and tension. The almond shaped eyes are devoid of pupils. This oil on canvas 65 x 46 cm was sold for € 27M by Sotheby's on October 24, 2025, lot 116.
1919 Jeanne
Intro
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.
They came back from Nice to Paris in May 1919 with 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.
In 1919, Amedeo Modigliani is again able to reveal the ideal woman, as in the time of his sculpted heads of 1911 and 1912. Since he then 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 sensual nudes painted in 1917 had brought a sinuous outline of the women's body. The harmony of rare warm colors provides comfort and kindness. The interpretation of that hypersensitive artist as a wild guy is definitely wrong.
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.
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.
They came back from Nice to Paris in May 1919 with 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.
In 1919, Amedeo Modigliani is again able to reveal the ideal woman, as in the time of his sculpted heads of 1911 and 1912. Since he then 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 sensual nudes painted in 1917 had brought a sinuous outline of the women's body. The harmony of rare warm colors provides comfort and kindness. The interpretation of that hypersensitive artist as a wild guy is definitely wrong.
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.
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.
1
1919 au Chapeau
2013 SOLD for £ 27M by Christie's
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 for £ 16.4M by Sotheby's on 19 June 2006 and for £ 27M by Christie's on February 6, 2013. Please watch 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 for £ 16.4M by Sotheby's on 19 June 2006 and for £ 27M by Christie's on February 6, 2013. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
2
later 1919 au Foulard
2016 SOLD for £ 38.5M by Sotheby's
On June 21, 2016, Sotheby's sold for £ 38.5M at lot 12 the portrait of Jeanne au foulard (with scarf), oil on canvas 92 x 54 cm painted by Amedeo in 1919. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
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.
Jeanne devant une porte is a three quarter length portrait by Modigliani of Jeanne Hébuterne in 1919 while she was pregnant of their second child. The eyes are filled in blue and she wears the strict clothing of a young mother. Her attitude is sad.
This oil on canvas has an unusual large size for that series, 130 x 80 cm. This is one of the latest portraits of Jeanne and arguably the most poignant. The head is heavily bent to her left. A scientific analysis based on pictures and photos concluded in 2018 that the poor young woman was suffering of cervical dystomia.
It was sold for $ 31M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2004, lot 23.
Jeanne committed suicide in January 1920, still in the same pregnancy, two days after Amedeo's death.
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Jun 5, 2016
The greatest and most tragic #love story in #art history? #Modigliani's tribute to Jeanne http://bit.ly/1VBSLfO
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.
Jeanne devant une porte is a three quarter length portrait by Modigliani of Jeanne Hébuterne in 1919 while she was pregnant of their second child. The eyes are filled in blue and she wears the strict clothing of a young mother. Her attitude is sad.
This oil on canvas has an unusual large size for that series, 130 x 80 cm. This is one of the latest portraits of Jeanne and arguably the most poignant. The head is heavily bent to her left. A scientific analysis based on pictures and photos concluded in 2018 that the poor young woman was suffering of cervical dystomia.
It was sold for $ 31M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2004, lot 23.
Jeanne committed suicide in January 1920, still in the same pregnancy, two days after Amedeo's death.
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Jun 5, 2016
The greatest and most tragic #love story in #art history? #Modigliani's tribute to Jeanne http://bit.ly/1VBSLfO
- This 2016 Sotheby's post promotes Amedeo Modigliani's 1919 portrait "Jeanne Hébuterne (au foulard)," depicting his muse in his signature elongated style, as a poignant tribute to their romance.
- Modigliani and Hébuterne's story ended tragically: he died of tuberculosis at 35 in January 1920, and she, pregnant with their second child, took her own life the next day at 21.
- The artwork fetched £38.5 million at Sotheby's June 2016 London auction, underscoring Modigliani's market dominance for intimate, expressive portraits from his final years.
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 video shared in 2015 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.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Oct 5, 2023
Among the last and largest paintings created by Modigliani before his death in 1920, this portrait of Paulette Jourdain, brings HK$272.9m / US$34.8m at #SothebysHongKong - setting the artist record in Asia.
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 video shared in 2015 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.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Oct 5, 2023
Among the last and largest paintings created by Modigliani before his death in 1920, this portrait of Paulette Jourdain, brings HK$272.9m / US$34.8m at #SothebysHongKong - setting the artist record in Asia.
- Sotheby's post celebrates the October 2023 sale of Amedeo Modigliani's "Portrait of Paulette Jourdain" for HK$272.9 million at its Hong Kong auction, establishing an Asia record for Western modern art from the Long Museum collection.
- Created circa 1919, the painting captures 15-year-old Paulette Jourdain—housemaid turned lover of Modigliani's dealer Léopold Zborowski—in the artist's iconic style of elongated necks and stylized features, on one of his largest canvases.
- As likely Modigliani's final portrait before his 1920 death at age 35 from tuberculosis, it underscores his brief, influential career blending Italian roots with Parisian modernism, amid poverty and absinthe-fueled bohemia.
