"The Jewess (La juive)," 1908: This painting reflects
Picasso's Blue Period.
Modigliani painted two dozen female nudes in the
years 1916-1919. His first and only one-person
show in 1917 was closed by the police because his
nudes were found to be obscene.
In Reclining Nude (La reveuse), the subject, with
one arm outstretched over her head, the other flat
against her cheek, seems both alluring and distant,
erotic and at the same time, like a Botticelli nude, a
figure of grace and innocence.
In his art, Modigliani searched for an ideal form
that melded classicism with expressionist or mod-
ernist sensibility. His entire body of work, including
"Jean Cocteau," 1916-17: This painting perfectly conveys
the elegant and aloof painter, writer and film critic who
appears seated upright in a throne-like chair.
sculpture, was that of portraiture. His lifelong preoc-
cupation with the female figure reached its apotheo-
sis in his famous nudes.
Whereas artists like Marc Chagall and Chaim
Soutine were perceived as Jewish rather than
Russian, Modigliani's Jewishness was invisible; he
was seen as Italian or Western European first. His
Jewish heritage, like his art, was shrouded in ambi-
guity. ❑
"Portrait of Paul Guillaume (Nova Pilota)":
The cocky tilt of Guillaume's head, the studied
nonchalance and foppish manner underscore
Modigliani's distrust of his parvenu art dealer.
Modigliani: Beyond the Myth runs through Sept. 19
at the Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Avenue, in New
York City. For information about exhibition hours
and admission fees, visit the museum's Web site at
vvvvvv.thejewislnuseum.org or call (212) 423-
3200. The exhibition will move to the Art Gallery
of Ontario in Toronto from Oct. 23-Jan. 23, 2005
(wvvvv.ago.net), and then to the Phillips Collection,
Washington, D.C., from Feb. 28-May 29
(www.phillipscolection.org).
•
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Body Of Work
Modigliani's brief lift comes alive in exhibition volume.
MORTON I. TEICHER
Special to the Jewish News
T
"Head of a Woman," 1912: Modigliani
started his career in art as a sculptor;
this striking head, with its elongated
nose and veiled eyes, foreshadows the
artist's stylized portraits.
he sumptuously illustrated, coffee table-sized volume
Modigliani (Yale University Press; $50), edited by
Mason Klein, is the catalog for the major exhibition
of Amedeo Modigliani's paintings and sculpture currently at
the Jewish Museum. The book contains 165 color plates and
50 black and white photographs.
The exhibition is the first major presentation of
Modigliani's work since the retrospective show at New York's
Museum of Modern Art in 1951. Hardly recognized during
his brief life from 1884-1920, Modigliani has steadily gained
admirers since his death at the age of 35.
He is well known for his sensuous nudes and for portraits
that feature elongated necks and angular faces. The idiosyn-
cratic style of Modigliani's work stamps him as an artist who
was unique even though he was subjected to many influences
as a member of the Circle of Montparnasse, a group of
Jewish artists who lived in Paris during the early part of the
20th century. Included in this circle (also known as the Ecole
de Paris) were Chagall, Lipchitz, Pascin, Soutine, Mane-Katz
and Orloff, amon b , others.
Cezanne, Picasso, the cubists and medieval art also
impressed Modigliani, but he developed his own highly indi-
vidual style.
Modigliani settled in Paris in 1906 and remained there
until his death. Most of the time,
he was extremely poor, depending
on others for the drugs and alco-
hol to which he became addicted.
His dissolute way of life also
included a number of mistresses
who often posed for him. His final romance with
Jeanne Hebuterne, a 19-year old student, began in 1917.
They had a child together, and she was pregnant when
Modigliani died. Her suicide followed his death by a day.
It is indeed remarkable that out of this sad and sordid life
came works of art that were recognized after Modigliani died
to the point that he is now considered to be one of the great
modern artists.
The catalog contains Modigliani's life story in a thorough
chronology that explores what happened to him year by year.
It also includes essays by the editor and four other art histori-
ans, written in the usual ponderous style of art historians and
in a typeface sure to cause eyestrain.
Griselda Pollock, University of Leeds, asks whether or not
Jewishness had anything to do with his concen-
tration on nudes, but she fails to answer this provocative
question.
No matter. The essays are not worth the effort to read
unless you are an art historian. However, the beautiful pic-
tures are more than worth the price of the book. A soft-cover
edition is available for $34.95. ❑
9/
2004
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