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Amadeo Modigliani
(1884-1920)
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Italian painter and sculptor, captivated by African masks and primitivism, perfecting the punctuality of line,
mastering simplicity and grace in his shapes, using delicate colors and distortion of the body to highlight his
models' personalities.
Amedeo Modigliani was born on July 2nd, 1884, in Livorno, Italy. Youngest son of a wealthy Jewish couple, he is brought up in austerity and already suffers from his weak lungs. Pneumonia and tuberculosis will remain his main struggles throughout his life. Encouraged by his mother to develop his artistic talents, he leaves home at the age of 17 for Florence and later Venice, where he studies art.
Five years later, in 1906, the young Amedeo arrives in Paris where he leads a calm life in Montmartre at first. He meets great art personalities of the avant-garde, such as Picasso, Utrillo, Jean Cocteau, Soutine… His first works show a rather moderate interest for cubism that is just starting, yet indicate affinities with Steinlen, Lautrec and the Picasso's of the Blue Period ("The Jewish Woman", 1908). He then dives into the thrill of Parisian nightlife, abusively consuming alcohol and drugs, and hopping from one love affair to another. His eccentric life style is also expressed by his dashing brown corduroy coat, the bright scarf around his neck, and his broad felt hat. Women found him irresistably attractive, he himself is fascinated by women. Unsurprisingly, portraits and female nude studies constitute the central theme of his oeuvre.
Along with the exuberant life style came the financial difficulties. In 1909, Modigliani is in desperate need of money and moves from one tiny studio to another, often leaving a part of his work behind. His poor health condition makes him return to his mother in Italy where he is being taken care of. In his painting "Violoncello Player", line already overrides color and brush stroke, and announces the modiglianian canon. When back in Paris, he will be returning to his mother several times, when his lungs would give him trouble and when his alcohol and drug use will destroy his health and waste his talents. That same year, he meets the sculptor Brancusi who will introduce him to African sculpture and masks. Until 1913, pure research on form will dominate his activities; only 30 paintings are made in four years. Oval faces and elongated proportions, in flat and simple forms, characterize his sculptures. Sinuous contour lines in both drawing and painting express feminine grace. Abandoning sculpture for financial and health reasons, he focuses on painting again. What African sculpture taught him forever remains the main influence in his oeuvre.
Between 1914 and 1916, Modigliani's liaison with the English journalist Béatrice Hastings leads to a very unstable life style. His work from that time period shows influences from divisionism. In 1916, Modigliani's life takes a new turn. A Polish poet, Leopold Zborowski, becomes his friend and representative, determined to make of Modigliani a famous artist. Influenced by cubism, his portraits are distinguished by a rigorous composition and precise lines ("Kisling", 1915). Modigliani now appears to fully possess his style, using the arabesque to encircle a suggested volume with ease. His use of color is sober; ochre for skin color, brown, grey, black, with some blue and green. The reduction to a characteristic scheme does however not hurt the expression of the personality of his models ("Soutine", 1916, "Blaise Cendrars", 1917). Around this time, female nudes become more frequent. The lines of the female body become rhythmical melodies ("Nude Laying down", 1917).
At Zborowski's home, he meets his future wife Jeanne Hebuterne, a graceful and talented aspiring artist, with whom his life will become more stable. His wife Jeanne is the inspiration for some of his best works during the last two years of his life. In his portraits, lengthened silhouettes, and necks in particular, are his most characteristic traits. Encouraged by his friend Zborowski, Modigliani opens his first art show in October 1917 at the Berthe Weill Gallery on the rue Lafitte in Paris. A collection of 32 paintings and drawings are exhibited, and only a few drawings find buyers. The exhibit is closed the same day it opened for "indecency".
Jeanne Hebuterne 
In November 1918, Jeanne Modigliani is born. Weakened by his lung infections and financial worries, the artist's family spends the winter of 1918-1919 in Nice, helped out by Zborowski. Weakened by tuberculosis, he dies at the Hôpital de la Charité on January 24, 1920. His pregnant wife commits suicide the next day.