How are you?
Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is
currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani.
The 82nd work to introduce for this
week is “Portrait of Jean Cocteau” in 1916.
This work is an expressionist style
portrait and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 100.4 x 81.3 cm, and housed
in Princeton University Art Museum in New Jersey, USA, loaned from Henry and
Rose Pearlman Foundation.
 |
| Princeton University Art Museum |
Painted at the same time as
Kisling's work, known as “Jean Cocteau assis dans son atelier (1916),” this
work shows Modigliani's unique style, which is distinctly different from
Kisling's work. Comparing the two works, Kisling took a lot of consideration to
the things surrounding Jean Cocteau, while Modigliani converted all the things
around Cocteau into several straight lines so that the viewers did not pay much
attention to anything other than the model Cocteau.
 |
| Jean Cocteau assis dans son atelier, Moïse Kisling (1916) |
This work was purchased by Jean
Cocteau from Modigliani around 1917, then acquired by Henry Pearlman in March
1951, and was held by Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation in 1974, when he died.
Henry Pearlman, who lived all his
life in New York City, was a primary collector of post-impressionist artwork,
founded his company Eastern Cold Storage in 1919 and married Rose Fried in
1925. He began purchasing artworks in 1945, and purchased works by many artists
for the rest of his life, including Soutine, Modigliani, Cézanne, Van Gogh,
Renoir, Manet, Matisse, and Toulouse-Lautrec. After Pearlman's death, his
collection was loaned to the Princeton University Art Museum, and his wife,
Rose, managed his collection until her death in 1994.
 |
| Henry Pearlman’s Office, Eastern Cold Storage, New York, N.Y. |
In this work, the elegant young poet Jean Cocteau posed in perfect dandy, including a handkerchief in his pocket. Cocteau, who sits on the high, round backrest of the chair, reminiscent of a throne, was already famous in Parisian literary circles despite his young age, and it may be Modigliani's deliberate expression to indicate that he is an important person.
 |
| Jean Cocteau |
Cocteau called Modigliani "our aristocrat," and the
two became close friends while painting this portrait. Cocteau insisted that
this painting did not resemble him, but later he wrote, “It does not look like
me, but it does look like Modigliani, which is better”. In this work that gives
the impression of a cubist portrait, Modigliani once again proves his genius,
expressing the important characteristics of the model in his paintings.
 |
| Moïse Kisling |
The X-ray of this painting shows
the existence of another painting underneath the painting, which seems to have
been painted again using the canvas used by his fellow artist Mois Kisling.
This fact can be seen as an example of how poor and miserable his life was
enough to reuse the canvas his friend used because Modigliani didn't have the
money to buy it.
 |
| X-ray of this painting, showing the existence of another painting |
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment