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.
