The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 30. Antonia (1915), Modigliani Institute Korea

How are you?

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

The 30th work to introduce for this week is “Antonia (1915)” painted in Paris, France.

This work is a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 82 x 46 cm, and it is now owned by the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, France.

The identity of the model in this work was not exactly known but we can understand the model’s name is "Antonia" because Modigliani indicated the name of the model in the upper left of the work.

In the upper left of this work, Modigliani drew a beige rectangle using the Impasto technique, which paints thickly to give maximum texture and three-dimensional effect.

Then, Modigliani marked the name of the model “Antonia” in black on top of it, and next to the name, he drew a square containing a cross.

In the works painted by Modigliani in 1915, when this work was painted, he frequently wrote the name of the model, such as the portraits of Paul Guillaume and Madame Pompadour.

Also, the women whom Modigliani painted in this period often show common features such as elongated cylindrically-shaped neck, the use of geometric background lines and the face of round contours, and we can assume that these features are inspired by Cubism.

Although Modigliani was not a Cubist painter, this work emphasizes the sculptural feeling of a portrait inspired by Cubism, using mainly two dark colors such as brown color in the model’s hair and background, and black color in the dress.

This work thus shows Modigliani's free interpretive approach to Cubism.

For examples, the nose has different outlines on both sides, and the ears and hair are depicted differently on both sides, which suggests looking at the front and side of the model at the same time.

The green eyes look like they're looking at the viewer, but both eyes were treated as small ovals with no pupils.

The face and neck were also treated in Cubism manners. Overall, the model was extremely simplified in this work.

But her dark dress is in harmony with the black curtain on the left, and the curtains and windows in the background are in harmony with brown, black and dark blue.

The cross-sectional axis of the window is located on the central axis of the face, and the squared cross shape drawn next to the name “Antonia” in the upper left is reflected in the shape of the window to form the background geometrically.

The lines used in the background also make the picture more vibrant and contrast with the curves of the face and neck and the vertical lines of the folded arms.

The elongated form of the frame and the central position of the model, which coincides with the longitudinal axis of the dark window, further emphasize the elongated features of the model.

In this work, when looking at the whole part of the model, only the mouth maintains the natural feeling.

In other words, Modigliani interpreted the canvas frame as a whole and expressed the effect of Cubism on him on the almost entire canvas.

Thank you.

Korean Blog