The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 16. The Cellist (1909)

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

The 16th work to introduce for this week is “The Cellist (1909)”.

This work is, a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 130 x 80 cm, painted by Modigliani in 1909.

This work used differentiated colors to express the moment when the cellist is immersed in his playing of cello.

This work has a strong influence on ‘Paul Cézanne’, and it even creates the illusion that the work mimics the characters of ‘The Card Players’ by Cézanne.

Also in this work, the unusually elongated cellist's arms suggest the beginning of an elongated drawing style that later becomes one of Modigliani's characteristic painting styles.

For the cellist in this work, the viewers are indifferent beings, and he is so immersed in the performance that he has no interest in anything but the instrument.

The model in this work was a poor cellist who lived there when Modigliani had a studio in Falguière.

This work also has a study work, but even in the case of the study work, although some parts of it were not painted, it feels like a completed work.

In 1910, Modigliani exhibited both completed and study works in the ‘Salon des Indépendants’, which was his second and last.

The painting in the background of this work is a portrait of sculptor ‘Brancusi’, who was Modigliani's friend.

It looks like the model, the cellist, is talking to his cello and, as the cello whispers, his body is in tune according to the instrument.

In general, musicians tend to prioritize their instruments rather than themselves, and in this work, the player feels like he is wrapping his instrument in a devoted manner with the intention of protecting it in any case.

It also looks like that the player and the instrument is a whole body, not knowing whether the player leads the cello by playing or vice versa.

In this work, Modigliani blunted the presence of the bow of the cello by blurring it compared to the cello.

The reason seems that the cello is a musical instrument with a bow, but in order to convey the idea to the viewer that the musical performance in this picture is a communication between the cellist and the cello, not by bow but by dialogue between the two.

This work also highlights the choice of colors.

The model in this work was a poor musician at the time.

Therefore, in order to highlight his harsh and difficult life, it seems that Modigliani used blue color for his attire because ‘blue’ also means ‘gloomy’ as well as color.

Such choice of the attire’s color is a concept similar to ‘black’ color, which Modigliani used for the attire of the model who was rich and well-educated.

Also, in the background colors that Modigliani selected in order to avoid disturbing the performer who is immersed in the playing of the musical instrument, and allow the viewers to concentrate on the performer with being almost indifferent to the background, we can feel the thoughtfulness of Modigliani for the performer as well as his artistic genius for the colors.

It was Belle Époque era in Paris when Modigliani painted this work.

Modigliani, however, did not follow the trend of the time and went his own way as a convincing artist.

In 1909, an artist, who was an acquaintance of Modigliani, Kurt Störmer, visited his studio in Paris.

At that time, Störmer saw this work as a completed painting, and he was impressed by this fantastic work, which showed Modigliani’s artistic genius in color selection.

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The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 15. Sorrowful Nude (1908)

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

The 15th work to introduce for this week is “Sorrowful Nude (1908)”.

This work is, a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 81 x 54 cm, painted by Modigliani in 1908.

In 1903, when Modigliani studied art in Venice, he shared a studio with his friend Oscar Ghiglia, who studied art together in his hometown of Livorno.

In 1903, Oscar exhibited a rather traditional portrait of a woman at the Venice Biennale.

There were many works of French Impressionists at the exhibition, but there were also a number of surreal and dreamy works that could be classified as Symbolism.

Modigliani, who loved the poems of Baudelaire and Rimbaud, who were Symbolist poets, was strongly impressed by these Symbolists’ works.

Unlike the Impressionism, which was confined to France, the Symbolism was a Pan-European movement that took place in many European countries at the end of the 19th century, and the Symbolists pursued anti-realism rather than the visible reality.

Since currently there remained very few paintings that Modigliani painted when he was an art student, it is difficult to ascertain whether he was directly affected by Symbolism.

However, in some works during his first years after moving to Paris, it is certain that Modigliani used Symbolic themes, and one of which is the "Sorrowful Nude”, which I introduce today.

The loneliness and body’s lines of the woman in this work are very similar to “Mother grieving over her Dead Child” by George Minne, who was a Belgian Art Nouveau artist and sculptor, or “Madonna” by Edvard Munch, who was a Norwegian Expressionist/Symbolist painter.

Pain and ecstasy are felt at the same time from the woman with her head back, eyes closed, and mouth opened, suggesting that pain and ecstasy have something in common.

Besides, in the face of the woman who looks like wearing a mask, Modigliani seems to induce the imagination of the viewer, by hiding all her emotions completely behind the mask-like face.

Symbolist painters regarded eyes as a "mirror of the soul”, and they thought that they can read the people's mind through their eyes.

It seems that the reason why Modigliani didn’t draw the model’s eyes in many paintings is that he cannot read the model’s mind through the eyes, and it is thought that Modigliani was influenced by Symbolism.

After two years in Venice, Modigliani went to Paris, France, where he ended his life.

The interesting things in this painting are that a man's face is drawn on the bottom right of the model, and a detailed inspection of this painting showed that the canvas was reused.

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The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 14. The Portrait of Paul Alexandre (1909)

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

The 14th work to introduce for this week is “The Portrait of Paul Alexandre (1909)”.

This work is, a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 100 x 81 cm, painted by Modigliani in 1909.

In the late 1907, a year after Modigliani moved to Paris, he was run out of money and was kicked out of his studio at Place de Jean-Baptiste Clement.

A painter and his friend, ‘Henri Doucet’, met with Modigliani at Lapin Agile and suggested to meet Dr. Paul Alexandre at Rue du Delta.

Paul Alexandre, a young dermatologist at the time, had rented a small house for his artist friends to rebuild after demolition at Rue du Delta.

Alexandre, who met Modigliani for the first time, was deeply impressed by his charm, talent and cultivation, and then continued to support Modigliani as his patron.

He also insisted on using only Modigliani's works to decorate the walls of the Delta house. 

Since Alexandre was a professional dermatologist at early career at the time, he had not enough money, but he became the only buyer of Modigliani for a long time.

It is remarkable that, as a dermatologist at early career, who was also struggling to secure clients for money, he supported Modigliani, who was then a completely unknown artist.

Modigliani had a characteristic of destroying his work, which was not satisfactory, after completing it.

However, Alexandre, as a friend of Modigliani, persuaded him not to destroy the work, and after Modigliani arrived in Paris, he commissioned Modigliani for the first time to help him.

These commissioned works include portraits of his family members such as ‘Jean Alexandre’ and portraits of friends such as ‘The portrait of a woman wearing horse riding suit’, which is also famous for the title "Amazon."

What is a noteworthy point in the work I introduce today is the background of the work.

It is “The Jewish Woman”, which is the first work Modigliani sold after he moved to Paris and purchased by Paul Alexandre.

Alexandre also requested Modigliani to paint “The Jewish Woman” as the backgrounds of three additional portraits he commissioned.

What stands out in Alexandre's appearance in this work is the long face, wide forehead, mustache, and white collar and sleeve.

Alexandre's face in this work is somewhat longer and exaggerated than his real face, and his appearance with his left hand in his suit’s pocket reminds of an elegant and noble aristocrat.

It is reminiscent of the paintings of the nobles of the Mannerism, a period of the 'late Renaissance', which were represented by artists such Bronzino during the 16th century.

It also shows the influence of ‘African art’ from the long face and appearance of Alexandre.

However the friendship of the two completely ended after the outbreak of the World War I, when Alexandre joined the army and served as a military doctor, after which the two never met again.

Thank you.

The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 13. The Portrait of Maurice Drouard (1909)

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

The 13th work to introduce for this week is “The Portrait of Maurice Drouard (1909)”.

This work is, a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 46 x 61 cm, painted by Modigliani in 1909.

The work depicts a man in a black suit with a beard, which is currently in private collection.

The man in the work was Henri E. Maurice Drouard, a sculptor and an illustrator who was born in Paris in 1886 and died in Versailles at the age of 29 in 1915.

When Modigliani met Drouard, he was a popular young illustrator and sculptor.

Modigliani did not use the curve technique, which was used in the “Portrait of Jean Alexandre”, which was introduced previously by Modigliani Institute Korea, but he applied other artistic techniques in this work.

One of them is a combination of colors.

Modigliani was very calculating and thorough in using colors, and he used these colors’ combination to emphasize the theme of this painting while making it attractive.

As an example of this colors’ combination, Modigliani used a lot of black colors and strong blue backgrounds in this painting to enhance the effect that viewers stare at Drouard's blue eyes.

In another technique, Modigliani avoided over-decoration of the painting so that it did not fade the theme of the painting which was intended to express.

Modigliani also liked to use black color in his paintings to further emphasize the theme of his painting.

In particular, like the “Portrait of Jean Alexandre”, which Modigliani painted in a similar period, the black color was used as the color of model’s suit to describe that the model, Drouard, in this work was from a wealthy family and educated.

Another feature of Modigliani's excellent artistic techniques, excellently expressing the character or thoughts of the model in his work, is also well expressed in this painting.

The viewer can easily read the message Modigliani wants to express in the facial expressions of the model in this work.

In other words, from the serious facial expression of Drouard in this painting, the viewer seems to understand that Drouard was facing tough times or in personal trouble.

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The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 12. Portrait of Jean Alexandre (1909)

How are you?

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

The 12th work to introduce this week is “Portrait of Jean Alexandre (1909)”.

This work is, a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 65 x 81 cm, painted by Modigliani in 1909.

Jean, the model of the work, was a young student at the time and he commissioned Modigliani for this work.

It is also the work which Modigliani painted after he painted the portraits of Jean’s father and Paul Alexandre, who was his brother as well as the friend and patron of Modigliani.

Modigliani painted this work in his studio at 14, Cite Falguiere at the time.

In this work, Jean is wearing a maroon tie, a white shirt and a black suit, leaning his head on his right hand.

The reason why Modigliani used black color for the suit of Jean is that the black color was the symbol of expensive suits for the wealthy people at the time.

Modigliani also used brown color as the background of the painting to further enhance the richness of Jean.

Modigliani, who was exactly understanding the influence of colors on painting, used a combination of warm and dark colors to highlight the professionalism of Jean, and wanted the viewers to recognize that Jean is from a wealthy family and well educated.

In addition, Modigliani did not place any objects besides the model in this work in order not to fade the meaning of this work.

Jean's face in this work is also an example that Modigliani was influenced by African sculptures.

The right arm of the model rests on a pillar on the wall, but Modigliani did not clearly represent the pillar in the painting.

It seems to be an effort to preserve the meaning of the work with simple backgrounds, and instead Modigliani treated Jean’s body as curves to represent that he is leaning against the pillar.

The model’s placement and the background’s expression of Modigliani is a part showing his excellent artistic techniques.

Jean was not an artists’ patron, but in the spring of 1909, when his brother, Paul Alexandre, left Paris, he replaced Paul's role and encouraged Modigliani and helped his daily life.

A few years later, in June 1913, Jean died of tuberculosis.
However, Modigliani stayed in Italy and did not know this at the time.

He returned to Paris a few days after the funeral of Jean and could not attend his funeral.

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The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 11. The Beggar of Livorno (1909)

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

The 11th work to introduce this week is “The Beggar of Livorno (1909)”, an oil painting on canvas having a size of 66 cm x 52.7 cm.

This was the only work Modigliani painted in his hometown, Livorno, longing for returning to Paris while staying in Livorno.

In the title of this work, Livorno is sometimes replaced with “Leghorn”, which is the English term for Livorno.

After Modigliani painted this work, he hung it for several months on the wall of his studio in Rue Falguière until it was exhibited at the Salon des Independants in 1910.

In the early years, Modigliani's favorite subjects were portraits of friends and the poor.

The main reason for such model selection was because Modigliani was not able to pay for the model.

But in addition to the issue of model fees, other reason can be found in literary works that have had a great influence on the formation of Modigliani's life values.

Because until just before his death (including when he was able to pay model fees), Modigliani's favorite models were the common and poor people such as children, peasants, and working-class men and women, and he painted mainly the poor throughout his life.

The evidence for this is that the works Modigliani had painted wealthy people are few, except for some of his works including “The Bride and Groom” in 1915.

The year of 1909, when Modigliani painted this work was a time when he was fascinated by Cézanne's work, and Cézanne was one of the most influential artists for an entire generation of painters.

Fascinated by Cézanne's work at the time, Modigliani clearly showed Cézanne's influence in this work along with other work, "The Cellist", which he painted in the same year.

In other words, the structure of the model's face and the intense brush strokes of blue and green colors in particular in this work are reminiscent of Cézanne's style.

It is believed that the reason why Modigliani hung this painting on the wall of his studio for several months before the exhibition was to pay respects to Cézanne as well as the preciousness of this work.

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The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 10. The Jewish Woman

How are you?

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

The 10th work to introduce this week is “The Jewish Woman (1908)”.

It was the first work which Modigliani sold after moving to Paris in 1906, and the person who purchased this work was his friend and patron, Paul Alexandre.

Alexandre then commissioned Modigliani for three additional paintings and requested Modigliani to draw this work as the background of them.

One of the features of this work is the boldness and originality of the colors used.

Although the woman in this work has a calm and inexpressive face, the strong contrast of the woman's distinct white face and dark clothes gives composition and inner tension, suggesting the strong emotion underlying her face.

Also, by expressing the background of the model in various colors, the model became more central point to this work.

The gloomy feeling of this work can be compared with the works of Picasso's Blue Period.

This work is also one of the few works that Modigliani, who has Jewish descent, officially recognized his Jewish identity and painted Jews as subject.

In view of the use of the word "Jewish" which Modigliani used in the title of this work, it seems that Modigliani was somewhat hesitant to publicly recognize his Jewish identity before drawing this work.

However, when drawing this painting, it seems that Modigliani had confidence in his identity as a Jew and he included the word “Jewish” in the title of this work to confirm his conviction.

It also suggests that racial discrimination, as well as gender, was existed in European society at the time.

Another feature of this work is the mixed brushstrokes used by Modigliani.

In other words, precise brushstrokes were used to detail the jaw of the model, while the wide and bold brushstrokes were used for the background and the clothes, so we can understand that Modigliani focused on the model in this work.

Modigliani's mixed brushstroke technique used in this work makes this work more original and outstanding.

Thank you.