How are you?
Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is
currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani one by one every week.
The 32nd work to introduce for this
week is “Beatrice Hastings (1915)”.
This work is a portrait of an
expressionist style and an oil painting on cardboard with the size of 43 x 35
cm.
It is currently owned by “Museo del
Novecento” in Milan, Italy.
This work is one of many paintings
for modeling Beatrice Hastings by Modigliani, which is characterized by the
appearance of Hastings, remote from the depiction by her colleagues or her depiction
in her own memoirs.
A columnist for the British weekly magazine,
“New Age”, she came to Paris as a correspondent in Paris in 1914 and met
Modigliani.
Hastings was also a woman who was controversial
because of her unusual attire and behavior.
Modigliani gave up his sculptures devoted
to several years and returned to painting in 1914.
This work was influenced by the
Cubism that Modigliani was interested in at the time.
Modigliani, who was fascinated by
Cézanne from around 1907 after moving to Paris in 1906, was in the process of
completely overcoming Cézanne's influence and moving on to his own art style.
In this work, Hastings has a round
but angular face, small mouth, thin eyebrows, small, pierced eyes, and high
positioned big ears, with some elements of Cubism.
In addition, the green color used
in the work contrasts with the complexion close to ocher color.
Although this is a finished work,
it feels as if it is an unfinished work with rough brushstrokes that seem to
leave empty spaces in places.
Hastings was thirty-six years old
at the time of painting, but Modigliani generally portrayed her as a very soft,
doll-like face.
There are also some peculiarities
in this work.
First, in addition to the signature
"modigliani" in the top right, there are letters on the bottom right
that are hard to read by the naked eye, which may be the name of the person to
whom Modigliani dedicated this work.
Second, when we look at the
photographs of the works by time, we can see that the green areas gradually
disappeared over time, which is probably the result of the restoration work.
Finally, the work has holes in the
corners and some of them were filled during the restoration.
In Hastings' memoirs, the place
where Modigliani and Hastings met was the Chez Rosalie restaurant run by
Rosalie Tobia.
Rosalie, the owner of the
restaurant, provided food to the poor Modigliani free of charge and Modigliani gave
her his paintings in return.
However, Rosalie, who didn't know
art well, did not recognize the value of Modigliani’s paintings.
Therefore, many works have been
damaged due to her neglected management, such as nailing them on the toilet.
Perhaps the holes in the corners of
this work are such nail holes.
Then, this may be one of
Modigliani's paintings for Rosalie in return for a free meal.
Thank you.
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