The Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 82. Portrait of Jean Cocteau (1916)

 

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.

Amazon Author Page

Lecture Program List

YouTube

Korean Blog

Naver TV

Kakao TV

Naver Post

The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 50. Portrait of Raymond Radiguet (1915)

How are you?

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

The 50th work to introduce for this week is “Portrait of Raymond Radiguet” in 1915.

This work is a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 37 x 29 cm, and currently in private collection.

Raymond Radiguet was a French novelist and poet who was born on June 18, 1903 and died on December 12, 1923. Born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés near Paris, the son of a caricaturist, Radiguet dropped out of the Lycée Charlemagne, where he studied, in order to pursue his career in journalism and literature.

Raymond Radiguet

In early 1923, Radiguet published his first and most famous novel, “Le Diable au corps (The Devil in the Flesh).” The book which has the story of a young married woman having an affair with a 16-year-old boy waiting for her husband who is fighting at the front during World War I provoked a great scandal when it was released. Although Radiguet denied it, it later turned out that much of the story in this book was his autobiographical story.

Radiguet joined Modernist Circle, where he made friends with Pablo Picasso, Max Jacob, Jean Hugo, Juan Gris and especially Jean Cocteau, who became his mentor. On December 12, 1923, Radiguet died in Paris at the age of 20 from infected tuberculosis after a trip with Jean Cocteau. 

Raymond Radiguet and Jean Cocteau (1923)

In an interview with "The Paris Review," Cocteau said that Radiguet had told him three days before his death that, "In three days, I am going to be shot by the soldiers of God."

Portrait of Raymond Radiguet, Jacques-Emile Blanche, shortly before the death of Radiguet

British artist Nina Hamnett described Radiguet's funeral in her 1932 memoir, “Laughing Torso”: "The church where Radiguet's funeral was held was crowded with people. Picasso attended, and Brâncuși and many celebrities that I cannot remember their names were also there. Radiguet's death was a terrible shock to everyone. Coco Chanel, the famous dressmaker, prepared the funeral, and the funeral was wonderfully done. Cocteau was too ill that he didn't attend.”

Tomb of Raymond Radiguet (Père Lachaise cemetery, division 56)

In 1947, based on Radiguet's novel, French film director Claude Autant-Lara released his film “Le diable au corps”, which was starred by the French actor Gérard Philipe, and the film was very controversial at the time of the release.

In the film, during World War I, in France, pretty nurse Marthe (Micheline Presle) begins an affair with 17-year-old François (Gérard Philipe) while waiting for her husband, Jacques, who is fighting on the front lines. François struggles against the fact that Marthe is married, and she tries to prove that she is devoted to her young, enthusiastic lover. However, the situation becomes more complicated as Marthe becomes pregnant with François' baby.

The movie poster of Le Diable au corps (Devil in the Flesh)

The model of the work I am introducing today is Raymond Radiguet. Radiguet was born in 1903, and Modigliani painted this work in 1915, so the model was 12 years old at the time. However, since the model in this work is an adult, not a boy, the possibility that the model in the work is a figure other than Radiguet might be considered, but the name of the model “Raymond” clearly written by Modigliani in the lower right of the work makes it clear that the model in the work is Raymond Radiguet.

This work also has a feeling of a composite of two different paintings from the model's appearance and features, and background’s color and composition, based on the center diagonal. In addition, the signature of Modigliani, written in the font and color that is less visible and more unique than other works, is one of the characteristics of this work.

Some experts have stated that Radiguet shared the love of Hastings with Modigliani, who was his lover, and his novel “Le Diable au corps” supported the situation. However, in comparison with the contents of the book, what does not match is that the heroine of the book is a married woman, but Hastings was not married to Modigliani and also divorced her ex-husband.

However, although Radiguet has not really done it, I think there is a possibility that he wrote a fictional story with Hastings in mind. Indeed, given the fact that it later turned out that much of the story of the novel was autobiographical, there is ample possibility for my statement.

Thank you.

Lecture Program List

YouTube

Korean Blog

Naver TV

Naver Post