The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 28. Alice (1915) , Modigliani Institute Korea

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Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani one by one every week.

The 28th work to introduce for this week is “Alice (1915)” painted in Paris, France.

This work is a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 78 x 39 cm.

In 1928, art collector “Johannes Rump” donated the work to the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen, and it is still possessed by the museum.

Modigliani marked the title "Alice" in the top left with his signature in the top right of this work.

Alice, the model of the work, was a lover of the French novelist and poet “Raymond Radiguet”, whose portraits Modigliani painted as the title of "Raymond”.

This is a portrait of a girl sitting with her hands on her knees in a blue dress contrasted with the dark skin of the model, decorated with white frills and golden cross.

The models of Modigliani's work are often stared on the side, but in this work, the model with almond-shaped eyes is facing the front and we can feel calm with her gentle pose.

Modigliani is known for his unique style such as an elongated face and body, a mask-like face and eyes with no pupils.

His unique style was based on the influence of Mannerism painters, such as Parmigianino, and Italian Renaissance masters such as Sandro Botticelli.

Then, after moving to Paris in 1906, he was influenced by Cézanne, African art, the various art movements that existed in Paris at the time, and the avant-garde artists involved in the art movements.

Therefore, Modigliani's unique style is the result of the influences of these diverse and complex art fields.

But this portrait is quite different from the other portraits showing his unique style.

That is, although the neck was drawn in a cylindrical style, the face was egg-shaped, therefore, no exaggerated elongation of the face appeared, and the image itself is less abstract.

However, Modigliani used a different way of expressing his preferred elongated drawing style in his work.

It was that he intentionally made the canvas into a narrow, long vertical form.

The color composition of the work is simple, but the vivid colors and bold outlines used in the work are enough to attract the viewer.

Also, Alice's hair, flowing down into the dress, seems to be intentional for relieving the African mask-style image of her face.

Compared with the works of other painters, the overall blue feel of the work, including the model's blue dress, is reminiscent of the works of "blue" period by Pablo Picasso.

It is also reminiscent of the feeling of Tahiti women painted by Paul Gauguin in the model's dark skin, expression and appearance.

Thank you.

Korean Blog