Amedeo Modigliani

long necks and faces

Modigliani's portraits are known by their extremely elongated necks, almond eyes and narrow faces.

💡 Did you know? Many of his eyes are blank and pupil-less: „When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes,“ he is said to have declared.

Italy

He lived and worked in Paris (Montparnasse).

💡 Did you know? Modigliani came from a Jewish family in Livorno; as a child he was often gravely ill.

African masks

Modigliani drew the simplification of his faces into masks from African and Egyptian sculpture.

💡 Did you know? In Paris African art was just then in vogue: Picasso too drew inspiration from it.

sculptor

Modigliani first wanted to be a sculptor but had to give up the dusty stone work because of his diseased lungs.

💡 Did you know? The stone dust harmed his health, so he switched to painting.

Montparnasse

He became a legendary figure of the bohemia there.

💡 Did you know? In Montparnasse Modigliani lived in bitter poverty among artists like Picasso and Soutine: often paying his debts with drawings.

at 35 (1920)

Only after his death did he become famous.

💡 Did you know? Modigliani died at 35 of tubercular meningitis; his heavily pregnant lover took her own life the next day.

Alice

Painted around 1918.

💡 Did you know? A child's portrait with the characteristic tilted head and almond eyes.

Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz

Painted around 1916.

💡 Did you know? The sculptor Lipchitz commissioned the double portrait and paid extra so Modigliani would work on it longer.

The Little Peasant

Painted around 1918.

💡 Did you know? Even to simple country children Modigliani gave his unmistakably melancholy dignity.

Portrait of Lunia Czechowska with a Fan

Painted around 1919.

💡 Did you know? Lunia was a close friend whom Modigliani portrayed several times in quiet elegance.

Amedeo Modigliani

Amedeo Modigliani (1884 to 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the Paris avant-garde, famous for his elongated, melancholy portraits.

💡 Did you know? In his lifetime Modigliani sold almost nothing; today his works are among the most expensive in the world: one fetched over 170 million dollars.