How are you?
Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is
currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani one by one every week.
The 39th work to introduce for this
week is “Man's Head (Portrait of a Poet) (1915)”.
This work is a portrait of an
expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 46 x 38.1 cm. Currently,
this work is owned by the Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, Michigan, USA.
The model of this work is presumed
to be “José Pacheco”, a Portuguese artist. Modigliani, who often painted several
pieces for the same model, painted another portrait of José Pacheco, too.
Portrait of a Man with Hat (Jose Pacheco )
Pacheco traveled from Lisbon to
Paris in late 1909 (or early 1910) to meet “Amedeo de Souza Cardoso”, a
Portuguese painter and his friend who lived in Paris. At the time, Cardoso moved to an
apartment in the 3 of the Rué du Colonel Combes, leaving his studio in the Cité
Falguière to his friend Pacheco. Cardoso was presumed to have met Modigliani
in the Cité Falguière, and he will host a sculpture exhibition of Modigliani in
1911.
After that, returning to Portugal
in July 1914, Pacheco, along with Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, gave life to
the Portugal's poetic movement. He also became a member of futurist
avant-garde group, who wanted to revolutionize the graphic arts in Portugal through
the magazine "Orpheu", which was founded in March 1915.
The work I introduce today has some
features.
First of all, the whole composition
of this work is tilted to the left.
In general, when Modigliani draws a
model tilted to one side, he balances the whole composition using the background
or various elements in the painting.
In the case of this work, however,
the model's posture as well as the background was tilted to the left, but
Modigliani made no attempt to balance the whole composition. Even he wrote his signature obliquely
on the top right.
Modigliani also painted the left
part of the clothes and background darker than the right part. He also drew the model's left ear larger
and left cheekbone more prominent than the right part, and hair in the left
part more abundant. Using all these things, Modigliani
further emphasized the tilt to the left.
Another feature is that in this work,
unlike the usual Modigliani’s painting style, the technique of “Cloisonnism”
that distinguishes models and objects by drawing the outlines of them in black was
used. Cloisonnism is one of the painting
styles of post-impressionist, drawing a dark outline, which can be seen in the
works of post-impressionist painters such as Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin.
Breton Women in the Meadow, Émile Bernard (1888)
The Yellow Christ (Le Christ jaune), Paul Gauguin (1889)
Thank you.
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