Amedeo Modigliani, as Francis Bacon later, is an empathetic portrait artist who feels the need to understand his sitters. On February 4 in London, Christie's sells Les deux filles, a double portrait of children which is very rare and perhaps unique of that theme in the art of Amedeo.
This oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm is estimated £ 6M, lot 15. It was sold for £ 6.5 million including premium by Christie's on 4 February 2009 over a lower estimate of £ 3.5 million, at the time of the crisis of the art market.
This artwork whose first owner was Zborowski was painted in 1917 or 1918, while experts are now preferring the latter date.
The end of 1917 was rough, with the scandal of the public exhibition of the nudes at the Berthe Weill gallery. In the following year, his long stay in Nice is organized by Zborowski. Far from the war, Amedeo is hoping to recover his health but he has also lost the contact with the professional models who had provided the bulk of his art.
These two girls who remain unidentified are a study of childhood, reinforcing the idea that the painting could have been done during the pregnancy of Jeanne who gave birth to their daughter on 29 November 1918. The serious brunette in careful hair style will soon emerge from childhood. She protects the younger blonde whose slightly deformed face assesses that Amedeo was attentive to the solutions of cubism.
This oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm is estimated £ 6M, lot 15. It was sold for £ 6.5 million including premium by Christie's on 4 February 2009 over a lower estimate of £ 3.5 million, at the time of the crisis of the art market.
This artwork whose first owner was Zborowski was painted in 1917 or 1918, while experts are now preferring the latter date.
The end of 1917 was rough, with the scandal of the public exhibition of the nudes at the Berthe Weill gallery. In the following year, his long stay in Nice is organized by Zborowski. Far from the war, Amedeo is hoping to recover his health but he has also lost the contact with the professional models who had provided the bulk of his art.
These two girls who remain unidentified are a study of childhood, reinforcing the idea that the painting could have been done during the pregnancy of Jeanne who gave birth to their daughter on 29 November 1918. The serious brunette in careful hair style will soon emerge from childhood. She protects the younger blonde whose slightly deformed face assesses that Amedeo was attentive to the solutions of cubism.
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