I've seen the movie, Modigliani starring Andy Garcia for a second time. Pictured here is the Death Mask of Amedeo Modigliani by Jacques Lipchitz. The movie depicts the making of this death mask.
I highly recommend this movie to any art enthusiast seeking to appreciate and know more about Amedeo Modigliani! Amedeo Modigliani : The Artist, the Man and the Myth!
Photo Credit: The Death Mask of Amedeo Modigliani by Jacques Lipchitz.
Modigliani - The Movie!
Andy Garcia stars as the painter Modigliani, an Italian Jew, has fallen in love with Jeanne, a beautiful Catholic girl. The couple has an illegitimate child, and Jeanne's bigoted parents send the baby to a faraway convent to be raised by nuns.
Modigliani is distraught and needs money to rescue and raise his child. The answer arrives in Paris' annual art competition. Prize money and a guaranteed career await the winner.
Modigliani and his dearest friend and rival Picasso believe that competitions are beneath true artists like themselves, but with the welfare of his child on the line, Modigliani signs up. Picasso follows suit and soon Paris is aflutter with excitement over the outcome. --Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani achieved fame after his death! Modigliani died penniless and destitute-managing only one solo exhibition in his life and giving his work away in exchange for meals in restaurants. Since his death his reputation has soared. Nine novels, a play, a documentary and three feature films have been devoted to his life.
Beatrice Hastings on Amedeo Modigliani
In June of 1914, he met the talented and eccentric English woman, Beatrice Hastings, who had been a circus artist, a journalist, a poetess, a traveler, an art critic.
Later she would write of him:
A complex character. A swine and a pearl. Met him in 1914 at a creamerie. I sat opposite him. Hashish and brandy. Not at all impressed. Didn’t know who he was. He looked ugly, ferocious and greedy.
Met him again at the Cafe Rotonde. He was shaved and charming. Raised his cap with a pretty gesture, blushed and asked me to come and see his work. And I went. He always had a book in his pocket. Lautrémont's Maldoror. The first oil painting was of Kisling. He had no respect for anyone except Picasso and Max Jacob. Detested Cocteau. Never completed anything good under the influence of hashish.
Modigliani Legend and Legacy
- Modigliani died penniless and destitute-managing only one solo exhibition in his life and giving his work away in exchange for meals in restaurants. Since his death his reputation has soared. Nine novels, a play, a documentary and three feature films have been devoted to his life.
- Modigliani's sister in Florence adopted their 15-month old daughter, Jeanne (1918-1984).
- As an adult, Jeanne wrote a biography of her father titled, Modigliani: Man and Myth.
- Two films have been made about Modigliani; in 1958 Jacques Becker directed Les Amants de Montparnasse and in 2004 the film Modigliani by Michael Davis starred Andy Garcia as Modigliani.
Modigliani Early Life
- Amedeo's birth saved the family from certain ruin, as, according to an ancient law, creditors could not seize the bed of a pregnant woman or a mother with a newborn child.
- Beset with health problems after an attack of pleurisy when he was about eleven, a few years later he developed a case of typhoid fever. Then when he was roughly sixteen he was taken ill with pleurisy again, and it was then that he contracted the tuberculosis which was to eventually claim his life.
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His mother was, in many ways, instrumental in his ability to pursue art as a vocation. When he was eleven years of age, she had noted in her diary that:
The child's character is still so unformed that I cannot say what I think of it. He behaves like a spoiled child, but he does not lack intelligence. We shall have to wait and see what is inside this chrysalis. Perhaps an artist?
Modigliani Art Student
- Modigliani is known to have drawn and painted from a very early age, and thought himself already a painter, his mother wrote, even before beginning formal studies.
- At the age of fourteen, while sick with the typhoid fever, he raved in his delirium that he wanted, above all else, to see the paintings in the Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi in Florence.
- His mother promised that she would take him to Florence herself, the moment he was recovered. Not only did she fulfil this promise, but she also undertook to enroll him with the best painting master in Livorno, Guglielmo Micheli.
Modigliani - Micheli and the Macchiaioli
- Modigliani worked in Micheli's Art School from 1898 to 1900. Here his earliest formal artistic instruction took place in an atmosphere deeply steeped in a study of the styles and themes of nineteenth-century Italian art.
- In his earliest Parisian work, traces of this influence, and that of his studies of Renaissance art, can still be seen: artists such as Giovanni Boldini figure just as much in this nascent work as do those of Toulouse-Lautrec.
- In 1901, whilst in Rome, Modigliani admired the work of Domenico Morelli, a painter of melodramatic Biblical studies and scenes from great literature. It is ironic that he should be so struck by Morelli, as this painter had served as an inspiration for a group of iconoclasts who went by the title, the Macchiaioli (from macchia-"dash of colour", or, more derogatively, "stain"), and Modigliani had already been exposed to the influences of the Macchiaioli.
- Despite his rejection of the Macchiaioli approach, Modigliani nonetheless found favour with his teacher, who referred to him as "Superman", a pet name reflecting the fact that Modigliani was not only quite adept at his art, but also that he regularly quoted from Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
- In 1902, Modigliani continued what was to be a life-long infatuation with life drawing, enrolling in the Accademia di Belle Arti (Scuola Libera di Nudo, or Free School of Nude Studies) in Florence. A year later while still suffering from tuberculosis, he moved to Venice, where he registered to study at the Istituto di Belle Arti.
- It is in Venice that he first smoked hashish and, rather than studying, began to spend time frequenting disreputable parts of the city. The impact of these lifestyle choices upon his developing artistic style is open to conjecture, although these choices do seem to be more than simple teenage rebellion, or the cliched hedonism and bohemianism that was almost expected of artists of the time; his pursuit of the seedier side of life appears to have roots in his appreciation of radical philosophies, such as those of Nietzsche.
Modigliani Early Literary Influences
- He continued to read and be influenced through his art studies by the writings of Nietzsche, Baudelaire, Carducci, Comte de Lautréamont, and others, and developed the belief that the only route to true creativity was through defiance and disorder.
- The work of Lautréamont was equally influential at this time. This doomed poet's Les Chants de Maldoror became the seminal work for the Parisian Surrealists of Modigliani's generation, and the book became Modigliani's favourite to the extent that he learnt it by heart.
- Baudelaire and D'Annunzio similarly appealed to the young artist, with their interest in corrupted beauty, and the expression of that insight through Symbolist imagery.
Dear friend, I write to pour myself out to you and to affirm myself to myself.
I am the prey of great powers that surge forth and then disintegrate...
A bourgeois told me today - insulted me - that I or at least my brain was lazy. It did me good. I should like such a warning every morning upon awakening: but they cannot understand us nor can they understand life.
Portrait of Paul Alexandre
Against a Green Background: 1909 - Oil on canvas. 100 x 81 cm. Private collection.
Dr. Paul Alexandre, a medical doctor, not much older than Modigliani. Dr. Alexandre together with his brother, Jean, set up a free house for artists in Paris. The doctor was fascinated by Modigliani’s paintings and began to support the Italian as well as he could. He bought his drawings and paintings and arranged for portrait commissions.
He collected up to 25 paintings and 450 drawings by Modigliani, which were published only in 1990. In 1914, Dr. Alexandre went to the army and had to stop his support of the artists.
Modigliani in Paris
- In 1906 Modigliani moved to Paris, then the focal point of the avant-garde. His arrival at the epicentre of artistic experimentation coincided with the arrival of two other foreigners who were also to leave their marks upon the art world: Gino Severini and Juan Gris.
- He settled in Le Bateau-Lavoir, a commune for penniless artists in Montmartre, renting himself a studio in Rue Caulaincourt. He soon made efforts to assume the guise of the bohemian artist, but, even in his brown corduroys, scarlet scarf and large black hat, he continued to appear as if he were slumming it, having fallen upon harder times.
- He is noted to have commented, upon meeting Picasso who, at the time, was wearing his trademark workmen's clothes, that even though the man was a genius, that did not excuse his uncouth appearance.
- Within a year of arriving in Paris, however, his demeanour and reputation had changed dramatically. He transformed himself from a dapper academician artist into a sort of prince of vagabonds.
- Modigliani's behavior stood out even in these Bohemian surroundings: he carried on frequent affairs, drank heavily, and used absinthe and hashish. While drunk, he would sometimes strip himself naked at social gatherings. He became the epitome of the tragic artist, creating a posthumous legend almost as well-known as that of Vincent van Gogh.
- He was first influenced by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, but around 1907 he became fascinated with the work of Paul Cézanne. Eventually he developed his own unique style, one that cannot be adequately categorized with other artists.
- He met the first serious love of his life, Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, in 1910, when he was 26. They had studios in the same building, and although 21-year-old Anna was recently married, they began an affair. She embodied Modigliani's aesthetic ideal and the pair became engrossed in each other. After a year, however, Anna returned to her husband.
Oil on canvas. 55.5 x 38 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Juan Gris (1887-1927), pseudonim of JosVictoriano Gonzez, Spanish painter, born in Madrid. In 1906 he came to Paris, where he associated with Picasso and Matisse and became one of the most logical and consistent exponents of synthetic Cubism.
In 1912, he exhibited with the Cubists in the Section d’Or exhibition in Paris, and in 1920 at the Salon des Indendants. He settled at Boulogne and in 1923 designed the dor for three Diaghilev’s ballet productions. He also worked as a book illustrator.
Modigliani and Sculpture
- Soon he was back in Paris, this time renting a studio in Montparnasse. He originally saw himself as a sculptor rather than a painter, and was encouraged to continue after Paul Guillaume, an ambitious young art dealer, took an interest in his work and introduced him to sculptor Constantin Brancusi.
- Although a series of Modigliani's sculptures were exhibited in the Salon d'Automne of 1912, by 1914 he abandoned sculpting and focused solely on his painting.
- In Modigliani's art, there is evidence of the influence of primitive art from Africa and Cambodia which he may have seen in the Musée de l'Homme, but his stylizations are just as likely to have been the result of his being surrounded by Medieval sculpture during his studies in Northern Italy.
Portrait of Anna Zborovska: 1917
Oil on canvas. 55 x 33 cm. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy.
Leopold Zborovski (1889-1932) Polish poet and art dealer.
Anna (or Hanka) Zborovska, his wife. They met Modigliani in 1916 and supported him to the end of his life. Modigliani painted them several times.
Modigliani and Jeanne Hebuterne
- In the summer of 1917, the Russian sculptor Chana Orloff introduced him to a beautiful 19-year-old art student named Jeanne Hébuterne who had posed for Tsuguharu Foujita.
- From a conservative bourgeois background, Hébuterne was renounced by her devout Roman Catholic family for her liaison with the painter, whom they saw as little more than a debauched derelict, and, worse yet, a Jew.
- On December 3, 1917, Modigliani's first one-man exhibition opened at the Berthe Weill Gallery. The chief of the Paris police was scandalized by Modigliani's nudes and forced him to close the exhibition within a few hours after its opening.
- After he and Hébuterne moved to Nice, she became pregnant and on November 29, 1918 gave birth to a daughter whom they named Jeanne (1918-1984).
Modigliani in Nice
- During a trip to Nice, conceived and organized by Leopold Zborovski, Modigliani, Foujita and other artists tried to sell their works to rich tourists. Modigliani managed to sell a few pictures but only for a few francs each.
- Despite this, during this time he produced most of the paintings that later became his most popular and valued works.
- In May of 1919 he returned to Paris, where, with Hébuterne and their daughter, he rented an apartment in the rue de la Grande Chaumière. While there, both Jeanne Hébuterne and Amedeo Modigliani painted portraits of each other, and of themselves.
Portrait of Lunia Czechovska: 1919
Oil on canvas. 46 x 33 cm. Private collection.
Lunia Czechovska, Modigliani’s model and friend, left memoirs about him.
Woman with a Fan - Lunia Czechovska
Modigliani Tragic Death
- In 1920, after not hearing from him for several days, his downstairs neighbor checked on the family and found Modigliani in bed delirious and holding onto Hébuterne who was nearly nine months pregnant. They summoned a doctor, but little could be done because Modigliani was dying of the then-incurable disease tubercular meningitis.
- Modigliani died on January 24, 1920. There was an enormous funeral, attended by many from the artistic communities in Montmartre and Montparnasse. In the movie with Andy Garcia, Modigliani was first beaten after leaving a local cafe and shown to have died later.
- Hébuterne was taken to her parents' home, where, inconsolable, she threw herself out of a fifth-floor window two days after Modigliani's death, killing herself and her unborn child.
- Modigliani was interred in Père Lachaise Cemetery. Hébuterne was buried at the Cimetière de Bagneux near Paris, and it was not until 1930 that her embittered family allowed her body to be moved to rest beside Modigliani.
Modigliani artful links
Modigliani: Beyond the Myth
May 21, 2004 - September 19, 2004. The Jewish Museum presents the first major exhibition of Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) in New York since his 1951 retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art.
An anomaly among the many foreign Jewish artists who lived in Paris during the early 1900s, Modigliani remained independent of any movement or style, and was known primarily for his reclining nudes and portraits with elegantly elongated features. Modigliani: Beyond the Myth shows the full range of the artist's oeuvre - painting, drawing and sculpture - in an effort to reevaluate his position within the development of twentieth-century European modernism.
Modigliani and His Models
Amedeo Modigliani painted people. In many ways this concise statement sums up the artist's entire output during his short career in Paris in the first two decades of the twentieth century. No other modern artist concentrated so absolutely on the representation of people.
Olga's Gallery of Modigliani - Amedeo Modigliani at Artprice. To look at auction records, find Modigliani's works in upcoming auctions, check price levels and indexes for his works, read his biography and view his signature, access the Artprice database.
Are you an art enthusiast who’s discovered Modigliani? Have you seen his life story featuring Andy Garcia? Own any of his work? What’s your favorite?
History: Amedeo Modigliani : Artist was originally created on Squidoo by JaguarJulie on November 24, 2007. Highest lensrank ever achieved: #7,379 overall. Lens #162 in the quest for Giant Squid 200 Club.
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