Amedeo Modigliani in Worldwide Museums: 2. The Hecht Museum

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The second place I would like to introduce for this week is The Hecht Museum in Haifa, Israel.

The Hecht Museum is a museum located at the University of Haifa in Israel, and was inaugurated in 1984 by Dr. Reuben Hecht, founder of the Dagon Silos and a founding member of the University of Haifa’s Board of Governors.

Dr. Reuben Hecht

Dr. Hecht, who was interested in the archeology of the Land of Israel from his youth, assiduously collected archaeological artifacts representing the material culture of the Land of Israel in ancient times for sixty years. He was particularly interested in artifacts from the Canaanite period to the end of the Byzantine period.

He also believed that archeology was an important expression of Zionism and that the discovery of ancient artifacts was proof of the link between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.

The museum's exhibits display the archeology and history of the Land of Israel in chronological sequence from the Chalcolithic period to the Byzantine period. The museum's art collection includes French painting of the Barbizon School, Impressionism, Post-impressionism, and the School of Paris, and Jewish art from mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century. The museum owns paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Jacob Pissarro, Vincent van Gogh, Amedeo Modigliani, and Max Liebermann.

About two years before his death, Dr. Hecht began planning an expansion of the museum. The administrators of the University of Haifa and the directors of the Hecht Foundation continued the plan, and the new building of the museum was inaugurated in October 1998.

The Hecht Museum serves as a study and research center for students and academic staff, as well as a venue providing in-depth studies in the fields of archeology, art, history and the Bible for students, soldiers, teachers and the local public. The Museum also holds conferences, symposia and cultural events for youngsters and adults.

Modigliani's works currently housed in the Hecht Museum are as below:

Nu au chapeau (Nude with a Hat) (1908)

Portrait of Maud Abrantes (1908)

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The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 6. Portrait of Maude Abrantes

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

The 6th work to introduce this week is “Portrait of Maude Abrantes (1908)”.

It is an oil painting on canvas having a size of 80.6 cm x 50.1 cm.

It is currently owned by the Hecht Museum at University of Haifa in Israel.

It was in November (or December) 1907 when Modigliani met Abrantes.

She was a friend of Modigliani and his patron, Paul Alexandre, who described her as "the most elegant woman”.

Abrantes was also a woman, who painted and enjoyed parties with artists.

However, a year later, in 1908, she said goodbye to her friends and left for New York with pregnancy.

The arguments about the father of her pregnant child are divided, and some claim that Modigliani is the father of the child.

In this picture, Abrantes is painted in a very unique way.

The combination of blue and orange colors used for her face creates an elegant but more or less unstable atmosphere.

Her face looks so pale as if she is bloodless, her eyes are almost closed as if she keeps her own secret sorrow, and the exaggerated expression of her lips makes her look like a wicked woman.

The blue shadows around her eyes add to her emotional anxiety and pain.

Modigliani, who was famous for expressing the personality or characteristics of the model in the painting, seems to have also expressed her personality or characteristics in this picture.

Since Modigliani also painted this work before establishing his own painting styles, he might have experimented with various painting styles in this painting, resulting in an expressive and dramatic image of the model.

And one of the reasons this picture became an issue is the fact that there is another painting on the other side of the canvas of this work.

I will explain it in detail in the next Modigliani news.

Thank you.