Amedeo Modigliani Victoria. Amedeo Modigliani, biography and paintings. The Last Muse and Shakespeare's Finale

05.03.2020

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Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

Mariupol State University

Faculty of History

Subject: Amedeo Modigliani

Completed:

student Solieva M.

Teacher:

Mariupol2013

Introduction

1. Life and times

2. Creativity

3. Famous works

Conclusion

References

Introduction

At the beginning of 1906, among the young artists, writers, actors who lived in Montmartre in a kind of colony, in which everyone, one way or another, knew each other, a new figure appeared and immediately attracted attention. It was Amedeo Modigliani, who had just arrived from Italy and settled on Caulaincourt Street, in a small barn-workshop in the middle of a wasteland overgrown with bushes, which was called “poppies” and was just then being built up with new houses. He was twenty-two years old. He was dazzlingly handsome, but he obviously attracted people with something even more unusual. Many of those who met him for the first time remembered, first of all, the feverish brilliance of his large black eyes, staring intently at him, on his matte-swarthy face. The quiet voice seemed “hot,” the gait seemed flying, and the whole appearance seemed strong and harmonious.

The last of the bohemian Mohicans, Amedeo Modigliani, lived a completely bohemian life. Poverty, illness, alcohol, drugs, sleepless nights, promiscuous relationships were his constant companions. But this did not stop him from becoming the greatest innovative artist who created the unique “world of Modigliani.”1

We do not have Modigliani either in museums or in private collections (the few surviving drawings, of course, in no way fill this gap). In the early 20s, when there was a spontaneous and mostly speculative-looting “distribution” of his paintings on the world art market, our country lived so difficultly that it had no time to worry about acquiring the latest Western painting.2 Modigliani was represented here for the first time in 1928 at one of the exhibitions of foreign art. After a long break, a few of his portraits appeared several more times at exhibitions of works from museum and private collections in the USA, France, and Japan.

It is characteristic that, despite such a wide variety of works on Modigliani, Western art criticism is increasingly expressing the opinion that his work still needs deeper study, that he is not yet fully understood and not assessed objectively enough. You really can’t help thinking about this when you get acquainted with his works and at the same time read at least all the best that has been written about him. It is difficult not to notice that even the most serious, professionally keen analysis of his work in the West is still limited primarily to problems of “pure form”. It is examined abstractly and scrupulously in order to establish either the traditionality or originality of the techniques of his craft. Considered as if in an airless space, in a forcibly closed sphere, these techniques of mastery are either compressed into a soulless protocol, reminiscent of a “case history,” or consistently give rise to unrestricted comparisons, sometimes more or less justified, sometimes arbitrary. Who doesn’t Modigliani become close to, whose influences aren’t imposed on him! Names and schools are attached to his work in such abundance that to someone he may already seem like either a universal imitator or an eclectic student - in any case, until, having passed through various “stages”, he develops, finally, at the behest of another researcher, his own inimitable and inimitable style. And in this kaleidoscope of “influences” and “convergences” it becomes difficult to determine those real sources and passions that really illuminated his path and helped him, while still very young, become himself in art. It is not clear why his art is forcibly deprived of social and philosophical content. They admire him, praise the beauty of his painting and the grace of his drawing, brushing aside his spiritual influence.

So, the purpose of this work is to trace the life and creative path of Amedeo Modigliani, and for this it is necessary:

outline the main stages of the artist’s short but eventful life;

highlight the work of Modigliani;

analyze the main works of the master.

Working with the literature on this topic, the author notes them limited quantity, but one can note the increased interest in Modigliani’s work over the last 10-20 years in Russian art criticism. The most famous Soviet study of the work of this master can be called the monograph by Vilenkin V.Ya. "Amedeo Modigliani". The author of the book introduces the reader in detail to the life and work, offers a deep, but perhaps not entirely objective analysis of the author’s works. Werner's work "Amedeo Modigliani" is more objective, it also contains many interesting facts about the life of Modigliani, an analysis of works, but more concise, but unlike Vilenkin’s work contains large number color and black and white illustrations. Most full meeting reproductions of Modigliani’s works, in our opinion, are contained in the book “The World of Masterpieces. 100 world names in art." In addition to reproductions, the book contains a large introductory article with detailed biography Amedeo Modigliani and a brief analysis of his works.

1. Life and times

Amedeo Modigliani was born on July 12, 1884 in Livorno, on the west coast of Italy. His parents came from prosperous Jewish families (one of the future artist’s grandfathers was at one time a prosperous banker). But the world did not greet the newborn child kindly - in the year Amedeo was born, his father, Flaminio, went bankrupt, and the family found itself on the verge of poverty. In this situation, the mother of the future artist, Evgenia, who had an indestructible character, became the true head of the family. She got very good education, tried her hand at literature, worked part-time as translations and taught children English and French.

Amedeo was the youngest and most beautiful of Modigliani's four children. His mother also doted on him because the boy grew up weak. In 1895 he was seriously ill with pleurisy. According to family legend, Amedeo began painting only after he was seriously ill with typhoid fever in 1898. The mother said that some unusually picturesque, terrible wandering happened to her son, during which Amedeo described pictures that he had never seen before, and that supposedly it was during his illness that his passion for drawing was discovered. Around this time, Amedeo became seriously interested in drawing. TO school activities he was completely indifferent and already at the age of fourteen he became an apprentice in the workshop of the local artist and sculptor G. Micheli.

“Dedo (that was the boy’s name in the family) has completely abandoned all his affairs,” his mother wrote in her diary, “and does nothing but draw... He draws all day long, amazing and confusing me with his passion. His teacher is very pleased with him. He says that Dedo draws very well for a student who has studied painting for only three months.”

In 1900, when Amedeo again fell ill with pleurisy, foci of tuberculosis were discovered in his left lung, which later became one of the causes early death artist. The mother took her son to improve his health on the island of Capri. On the way back, the teenager visited Rome, Florence and Venice. From this trip, letters sent by him to a friend have been preserved - with ardent declarations of love for art and with mention of beautiful images that “disturb the imagination.” However, there was something else about them. In one of his letters from Capri, a young traveler talks about a “walk moonlit night with a Norwegian girl, very attractive to look at.”

In 1902, Modigliani went to Florence, where he entered the painting school. Having moved to Venice in March 1903, he continued his studies at the local Academy. Very few drawings and letters from the artist dating back to this period have reached us. Venice was colorful national composition a city with rich cultural traditions. But Modigliani, like all young artists of his generation, was attracted to Paris. In January 1906, the 21-year-old artist set foot on the promised land of Paris. His beloved uncle, Amedeo Garcin, who had helped him before, had died a year earlier, and now Modigliani received only a modest “scholarship” from his mother.

His wanderings began in cheap furnished rooms - first in Montmartre, and from 1909 - in Montparnasse, in the artists' quarter. Amedeo had excellent command French and therefore, he easily made Parisian friends, with whom he enjoyed the delights of metropolitan life, not avoiding bars and brothels (ill. 1).

In November 1907, Modigliani met a young doctor and art lover, Paul Alexandre, the first collector of his works. Only the World War separated them (Dr. Alexander was then mobilized to work in a military hospital). It was Alexander who in 1909 brought Modigliani together with the outstanding Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Under the influence of Brancusi, Amedeo became interested in sculpture, abandoning painting for several years (ill. 2,3). However, the dust has such a harmful effect on his weak chest that he is temporarily forced to abandon his favorite sculpture. For some time he even visited the Academy of Colarossi, and we owe this visit to perhaps his very last drawings of nude models, executed in an academic manner. Then the search for something new begins.

In addition, he is trying to solve the two main tasks facing him: the first is to make money, and the second is what he wrote about from Rome - “to come to your own truth about life, beauty and art,” that is, to find your topic and find your own language. He never completed the first task until the end of his life. His youthfully romantic phrase that “the philistines will never understand us” here, alas, acquired its crude concreteness. Not a single Parisian tradesman agreed to buy paintings for anyone famous painter- it's too risky an investment.

Bohemian life made itself felt. The artist's health deteriorated. In 1909 and 1912, Modigliani went to his relatives in Italy to improve his health, but, returning to Paris, he again preferred to live as before. Modigliani drank heavily and often; when drunk he became unbearable. In a “foggy” state, he could insult a woman, get involved in a scandal, start a fight, even be naked in public. At the same time, almost everyone who knew him well notes that the sober artist was an ordinary person, no different from most people of that time.

Before the First World War, Modigliani settled in the famous “Beehive”, or otherwise “Rotunda”, without mentioning which not a single story about the life of the legendary Montparnasse artists could do. An awkward, strange structure, which was a wine pavilion at the World Exhibition of 1900, was dragged by some eccentric benefactor to land he bought on the cheap almost on the outskirts of Paris and in it he set up a hostel for homeless and hopeless poor artists. Many celebrities have seen his dirty little workshops, more like coffins with shelves over the doors instead of beds. Fernand Leger, Marc Chagall lived here, French poet Blaise Cendrars, and even our Lunacharsky visited Modigliani at one time. Modigliani owes this eerie “Hive” his acquaintance with a man whom he dearly loved and considered one of greatest artists of its time. This is Chaim Soutine, a small-town Jew who escaped from provincial Smilovichi, where his fellow believers unanimously beat him for his paintings, and by some miracle flew to brilliant Paris. Soutine turned out to be an original artist with a great future. Modigliani painted two portraits of him, one of which, where Soutine has the open, perky face of a roguish guy, is very beautiful in painting.

With the outbreak of the First World War, Modigliani's life became even darker. Many of his friends were drafted into the army, and loneliness set in. In addition, prices soared; stone and marble became an unaffordable luxury, and Modigliani had to forget about sculpture. Soon he met the writer Beatrice Hastings. The acquaintance grew into whirlwind romance, which lasted two years. The kind of relationship between the lovers can be judged by the fact that once Modigliani admitted that he threw Beatrice out of the window, and another time, blushing with shame, he told Jacques Lipchitz that Beatrice beat him with a rag.

It was during the war years that Modigliani managed to achieve some success. In 1914, Paul Guillaume began buying the artist’s works. In 1916, this “art dealer” was replaced by a native of Poland, Leopold Zborowski. In December 1917, Zborovsky agreed with the owner of the art gallery Bertha Weil to organize a personal exhibition of Modigliani (this was his only “staff” during his lifetime). It seemed that the wall of non-recognition was about to collapse. However, the idea of an exhibition turned into a farce. The gallery was located just opposite the police station, and when a small crowd gathered near the window of the gallery with Modigliani’s nudes exhibited in it to attract the public, one of the policemen decided to see what was happening there. Half an hour later, Madame Weil was ordered to remove the “abomination” from the window, and the exhibition had to be curtailed before its official opening.

A few months before the ill-fated exhibition, Modigliani met 19-year-old student Jeanne Hebuterne (ill. 4). The girl fell in love with the artist and remained with him until his death. However, his behavior did not improve from this. Modigliani was terribly rude to Jeanne. The poet André Salmon described one of Modigliani's many public scandals this way: “He dragged her (Jeanne) by the hand. He grabbed her by the hair, pulled it forcefully and behaved like a madman, like a savage.”

In March 1918, Zborovsky moved to the south of France, away from the capital, mired in the bustle of war. He invited several artists to keep himself company - Modigliani was among them. So he ended up in Cannes, and then in Nice, where in November 1918 Jeanne’s daughter was born (also Jeanne). At the end of 1919, Modigliani (ill. 5) returned to Paris with both Jeannes, and a few months later he fell ill with tuberculous meningitis.

On July 12, 1920, he died. The tragic postscript to Modigliani's life was the suicide of Jeanne Hebuterne. The morning after the funeral, she, eight months pregnant, jumped out of the window.

At the end of his biography it is customary to put a bold point: Modigliani finally found himself and expressed himself to the end. And he burned out mid-sentence, his creative flight was cut short catastrophically, he, too, turned out to be one of those who “didn’t live up to theirs in the world, didn’t love theirs on earth” and, most importantly, didn’t accomplish anything. Even on the basis of what he did undeniably perfectly in this one and only “period” of his, which continues to live for us even today - who can say where, in what new and, perhaps, completely unexpected directions, in what unknown depths Would this passionate talent, yearning for some final, all-exhaustive truth, rush? There is only one thing we can be sure of - that he would not have stopped at what he had already achieved.1

2. Creativity

In 1898-1900, Amedeo Modigliani worked in the workshop of Guglielmo Micheli, and therefore we can say that initial stage his creativity took place under the sign Italian art XIX century. Since this century in a country with a glorious artistic past is not rich in outstanding achievements, many tend to underestimate the masters of this time and their creations. Meanwhile, they are an indisputable source of inspiration for the novice artist, and this fact cannot be refuted by the fact that few of Modigliani’s early works, completed before moving to Paris, have reached us. Maybe they will still be found in Livorno, Florence or Venice unknown works Modigliani 1898-1906, which will help shed light on the initial stage of the artist’s creative biography. In addition, we can rely on some reviews of Modigliani's early work. And in general it’s hard to imagine that he passed by contemporary art his native country: it is obvious that the art of Italy of the 19th century made no less an impression on the young Modigliani than the works of the Renaissance, and Boldini is just as felt in Modigliani's early Parisian works, as is Toulouse-Lautrec.

During his stay in Rome in 1901, Modigliani admired the painting of Domenico Morelli (1826-1901) and his school. Sentimental paintings by Morelli on biblical themes, his historical paintings and canvases based on scenes from the works of Tasso, Shakespeare and Byron are now completely forgotten. A bold step, leading far ahead of Morelli, was made by a group of very young artists “macchiaioli” (from macchia - a colorful spot). This school, young innovators, was united by their rejection of the bourgeois tastes that prevailed in art, the apologists of which were academic genre artists. In terms of their themes, the artists of the Macchiaioli group were close to the Impressionists: they also loved to depict peasant houses, rural roads, sunlit land and sun glare on the water, but they were not distinguished by the bold artistic decisions inherent in Monet’s followers.

Apparently, during his apprenticeship Modigliani was for some time a supporter artistic principles"macchiaioli". Micheli, his teacher, was himself a favorite student of one of the founders of this school, Giovanni Fattori (1828-1905) from Livorno. Micheli was a fairly famous landscape painter, and he earned popularity among local art lovers with his seascapes filled with a feeling of freshness and light.

Modigliani worked as furiously as he lived. Alcohol and hashish never dampened his insatiable desire to work. There must have been periods when, due to the lack of widespread recognition, he fell into despair and gave up. Once, responding to a friend who reproached him for idleness, he said: “I create at least three pictures a day in my head. What’s the point of ruining a canvas if no one will buy it anyway?” On the other hand, Arthur Pfannstiel, author of Modigliani and His Work, reports that the young artist sketched continuously, feverishly filling his blue-covered notebooks with drawings, up to a hundred a day.

It should be remembered that during this period Modigliani still dreamed of becoming a sculptor and spent a significant part, if not the lion's share, of his efforts on sculpture. A man with a critical mind, he periodically destroyed those things that seemed to him unsuccessful. But he also lost many jobs during hasty moves from one place to another, almost always secretly and without paying the owner for rented premises. Furious homeowners destroyed the "crazy" paintings he left them in lieu of payment; The owners of the bistro, with whom he exchanged his works for drinks more often than for food, did not value his works too much. He thoughtlessly gave away many works to his numerous random girlfriends who did not take care of them. Modigliani never kept records of his works.

It is noteworthy that the young painter was so little influenced by Fauvism and Cubism. The Fauves put color as the basis for everything, but for Modigliani the main thing is line. At first he complained that his “damned Italian eyes” could not get used to the special Parisian lighting. His palette was not very varied, and only once or twice did he resort to coloristic experimentation in the spirit of the Neo-Impressionists or Fauves. As a rule, he concluded large surfaces even color into thin but clearly drawn linear contours. Cubism, with its tendency towards dehumanization, was too rational for Modigliani, who was looking for the opportunity to express strong emotions in his work.

If Modigliani's early paintings, despite their excellent technical skill and occasional glimpses of original charm and lyricism, are not yet truly outstanding works, then his drawings of 1906-1909 already anticipate the mature master of 1915-1920.

He spent the summer of 1909 with his family in Livorno and painted a number of paintings there, among which was a canvas called “The Beggar.” This canvas, as well as two versions of The Cellist, were among the six pieces he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1910. By this time, he had already been recognized by many critics, poets and fellow artists, however, except for his devoted Doctor Paul Alexandre, no one wanted to buy his works. He moved from place to place because he never had money for a decent workshop. At one time he lived in the so-called “Beehive” - a strange, dilapidated house on Danzig Street where Chagall, Kisling, Soutine and many other foreign artists also rented tiny studios.

In 1909-1915 he considered himself a sculptor and worked very little in oils. During this period, Modigliani made many interesting and necessary contacts. In 1913, he met Chaim Soutine, a rough immigrant from Lithuania, and subsequently, as a close friend, tried to teach him good manners. Soutine was ten years younger, and his exuberant painting with characteristic “explosions” of impasto strokes could hardly have pleased a friend from Italy. In 1914, Max Jacob introduced Modigliani to Paul Guillaume, the first marchand who managed to awaken clients' interest in the artist's work. But Modigliani had a much closer relationship with another Marchand, Leopold Zborowski, whom he met in 1916. A significant part of the works created by the artist in the last three to four years appeared thanks to the support of Zborovsky and his wife. Zborovsky was an unusual phenomenon among the marchants of that time: he felt a fanatical affection for his ward, despite all the artist’s shortcomings - above all, recklessness and hot temper - which would have alienated a less devoted person.

In December 1917, Modigliani's only real solo exhibition took place, organized by Zborowski at the Bertha Weil Gallery. Instead of the expected success, a noisy scandal broke out. A crowd gathered in front of a window displaying a painting of a nude. The police insisted that this canvas and four other nudes be removed from the exhibition. Not a single painting was sold.

In May 1919, Modigliani returned to Paris, and Jeanne arrived there a little later. The first signs of success appeared. Newspapers began to write about the artist. Several of his canvases were presented at the exhibition French art in London. His works began to be in demand among buyers. Modigliani finally had a reason to perk up - if not for a new deterioration in his health. Modigliani managed to simultaneously establish himself as both a realist and a non-subject matterist. This inspired eclecticist - aristocrat, socialist and sensualist in one person - uses the techniques of both the masters of the Ivory Coast (whose statues amaze the imagination without evoking a sense of belonging) and the icon painters of Byzantium and the Early Renaissance (who touch us, but cannot shake us to the core ). From all this comes the reverent, exciting - in a word, unique - Modigliani!

3. Famous works

Amedeo Modigliani creativity artist

Modigliani's amazing style was especially evident in his nudes and portraits. It was these works, first of all, that propelled him to a leading position in the art of the twentieth century.

Modigliani's creative path turned out to be tragically short. He was given very little time - most of his best works occurred in the last five years of his life. This explains both the relatively modest size of his legacy and some narrowness in the choice of topics - by and large, Modigliani worked in only two genres (nude and portrait). Nevertheless, even in an era so generous with talents, such as the beginning of the last century, he managed not to get lost in the general “artistic” mass and declared himself as one of the most original and poetic modern painters. And the style he created still haunts many artists, provoking them (often unconsciously) to imitate and repeat.

Modigliani's elongated forms have always aroused great interest. Their origins have been variously explained by critics. Some of these explanations are quite anecdotal - for example, relatively speaking, "alcohol." It was argued that the elongated forms were the result of the artist’s alcoholic addictions, looking at women through the bottom of a glass or the curved neck of a bottle. Meanwhile, similar forms are found in the Renaissance masters, whom Modigliani admired, and on his favorite African masks. His artistic interests were not limited to African masks. He was also attracted to the art of Ancient Egypt, fascinated by the statues of the islands of Oceania and much more. However, there was no talk of direct borrowing here; if ancient sculptures had an influence on Modigliani’s style, it was only indirect. Modigliani accepted only what corresponded to his own searches.

In his “sculptural” fifth anniversary, the artist painted only about two dozen paintings, while the total number of his surviving paintings is close to 350. Later he abandoned the sculpture. Perhaps sculpture classes simply became too much for him. Stone carving is hard physical work, and the flying stone dust was contraindicated by the artist's lungs, which were damaged by tuberculosis. Be that as it may, the sculptural works created by the author are an integral part of Amedeo’s work. All existing Modigliani sculptures were created between 1909 and 1914. These are 23 stone heads and two figures (a standing woman and a caryatid). Modigliani made sketches of the caryatids many times, intending to create a whole series of heads and figures for the temple of beauty he had planned. This plan was not destined to come true. True, he showed seven goals (also a kind of series) at the Autumn Salon in 1912. The artist’s friend, the famous sculptor Jacob Epstein, noted in his autobiography that at night Modigliani lit candles mounted on stone heads and illuminated the workshop with them, trying to “imitate the lighting of an ancient pagan temple.

Modigliani was a self-taught sculptor, so his early sculptures look rough (and even clumsy). But, working intensively, he soon found his own style, both elegant and powerful. Modigliani's stone heads have an attractive, almost magnetic force. One can imagine how majestic the artist’s Temple of Beauty could have been.

The viewer most often associates Modigliani's work with his nudes. Modigliani was always interested in the nude, but he only turned to this topic seriously in 1916. The magnificent nudes painted by the artist in the last three or four years of his life are very different from everything he created earlier. The female images of the late Modigliani became more sensual and spontaneous, losing their former sadness and contemplation. Working in this genre, the artist rarely resorted to the help of his girlfriends or mistresses - the exceptions are one nude with Beatrice Hastings as a model and several similar things for which Jeanne Hebuterne posed. Typically, the artist's models were paid models or casual acquaintances. Modigliani preferred reclining nudes (although this was not an exclusive pose for him). He always depicted the female body large, juicy, with arms thrown behind the head or legs bent.

At the time of Modigliani, the female nude had not yet become a common place in painting. She was worried, even shocked. The image of pubic hair was considered especially obscene. But creating an erotic atmosphere was not Modigliani's goal in itself; this, of course, is present in his canvases, but, in addition, they are elegant in composition and refined in color. They are, first of all, works of art. Examples include the following works: “Nude on a White Cushion” (1917-1918), “Seated Nude” (ill. 6) undated and “Young Seated Woman” (1918). An excellent example of the genre, combining purity and grace of line, simplicity of composition, expression and deep eroticism - “Seated Nude” (1916). This is one of Modigliani's first nudes from his mature period. In his book (1984), dedicated to creativity artist, Douglas Heasle calls this painting “perhaps the most beautiful of Modigliani’s nudes.”1 The woman's face is stylized, but one can find similarities with Beatrice Hastings. At the time of the creation of the canvas, they were still living together. However, it is unlikely that Beatrice posed for the artist; Most likely, Modigliani, as usual, invited a professional model for this. But as he worked, Beatrice certainly stood before his eyes. The elongated, sculpture-like face of the woman depicted is reminiscent of the African masks that Modigliani so admired, and the tilt of her head and lowered eyelashes echo the paintings usually exhibited at the Salon. Nevertheless, this work by Modigliani is completely original and is rightfully considered one of the pearls in the series of nudes, which later made the artist famous.

“Reclining Nude” (1917-1918), Modigliani’s work is most often associated with the viewer’s nude, and this masterpiece is an excellent example of the genre, combining purity and grace of line, simplicity of composition, expression and deep eroticism.

Modigliani was an outstanding draftsman, so the main charm of the image is given by the line that gently describes the contours of the woman’s body, her neck and the oval of her face. The smooth contours of the figure are emphasized by the elegant background of the picture, gracefully chosen in tone. The pose and facial features of the model are very intimate, but at the same time deliberately stylized, which is why the image loses its individuality and becomes collective. The arms and legs of the heroine of this work, cut off by the edge of the canvas, visually bring her closer to the viewer, further enhancing the erotic sound of the picture.

In addition to nudes, portraits by Modigliani are widely known. He said: “Man is what interests me. Human face - supreme creation nature. For me this is an inexhaustible source.”1 Most often Modigliani was posed by his close friends, thanks to which many of the artist’s canvases look like an interesting gallery of representatives of the artistic world of that time, in whose images the “golden age” of Parisian art was imprinted. Modigliani left us portraits of artists Diego Rivera, Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso and Chaim Soutine, sculptors Henri Laurens and Jacques Lipchitz, writers Guillaume Apollinaire and Max Jacob. The only self-portrait of Modigliani (Fig. 7), painted by him in 1919, a few months before his death, has also reached us.

The nudes and portraits painted by the artist at the end of his life mark an important milestone in history modern painting. Although Modigliani's last portraits bear traces of emotional decline (which is not surprising if we do not forget about how he lived at that time), they nevertheless retain the transparency and majesty inherent in the Renaissance masters.

But this did not bring Modigliani fame during his lifetime. He was known only to a narrow circle of artists - people like him, selflessly in love with art. And this, as a rule, does not bring money during your lifetime. Yes, Modigliani (like many of his friends) did receive unconditional recognition, but this happened after his death. His paintings, which he traded for bread and wine, are now paid staggering amounts of money; V art galleries they occupy the most honorable places, and hundreds of books have been written about the artist himself. An ordinary story.

Conclusion

Modigliani's pictorial style, with its decorative flatness, sharp laconic composition, musicality of silhouette-linear rhythms, and rich color, was determined in the early 1910s. In his, as a rule, single-figure paintings - portraits and nudes - Modigliani created a special world of images, intimately individual and, at the same time, similar in their general melancholic self-absorption; their unique, subtly nuanced psychologism and enlightened poetry are combined with a constant, sometimes tragic sense of human insecurity in the world.

Modigliani managed to simultaneously establish himself as both a realist and a non-subject matterist. His art meets the demands of the purists, who insisted that a painting is only a plane onto which paints are applied in a certain order; but at the same time he put rich human, sexual and social content into his canvases. He reveals and hides, selects and brings, seduces and soothes. This inspired eclecticist - aristocrat, socialist and sensualist in one person - uses the techniques of both the masters of the Ivory Coast (whose statues amaze the imagination without evoking a sense of belonging) and the icon painters of Byzantium and the Early Renaissance (who touch us, but cannot shake us to the core ). From all this comes the reverent, exciting - in a word, unique - Modigliani!

What remains of Modigliani seven decades after his death? Firstly, of course, the creative heritage, which is still subject to detailed research, and secondly, the legend, which has become the property of millions.

The legend arose from the memories of people who knew the artist during his tragic life in Paris, and even more from books based on some fascinating, but not always reliable, second- or even third-hand information. Several mediocre novels and a movie are devoted to the adventures of Modigliani.1

Alcohol and drugs may have been necessary for a physically weak, unsuccessful and lonely foreigner in Paris, suffering from uncertainty and bitter disappointments, but they in no way created or released his genius. Modigliani was almost always desperately poor, and more even because of his “terrible character”, which repelled possible patrons, than because of the complete indifference towards him on the part of collectors. Debunking the “romantic legend of death from hunger, alcohol and, God knows what metaphysical torment”2, the artist’s daughter Jeanne Modigliani blames everything, first of all, on tuberculosis, with which he was ill throughout his life.

No matter how obnoxious and irresponsible the artist may have seemed at times, basically he was - and all his friends are unanimous in this - a man of aristocratic behavior, brilliant mind, widely educated, capable of good feelings and compassion. Considering the limited duration - thirteen years - of his creative activity and all the circumstances of his life, his achievements are amazing not only in quantitative but also in qualitative terms. In the book Modigliani and His Work (1956), Arthur Pfannstiel lists and describes 372 paintings by the artist created after his arrival in Paris in 1906. In the preface to the album “Amedeo Modigliani. Drawings and Sculpture (1965) Ambrogio Ceroni claims that the number of genuine Modigliani paintings is 222, which indicates a very strict approach to their assessment. Several early paintings by Modigliani have been discovered as early as recent years, and not so long ago a number of very convincingly authentic canvases from the Parisian period were put up for sale, not mentioned by either Pfannstiel or Ceroni.3 Unfortunately, the market is flooded with fakes of Modigliani, and some of them are executed with such skill that they can mislead and specialist and collector. It is not surprising that the masters of falsification have intensified their activities so much - the price for first-class Modigliani works has risen to one hundred thousand dollars. As a result, many "Modiglianis" have appeared that are trying to combine original techniques, developed by the master, to trivial formulas.

We will never know how many works did not reach us - how many were destroyed by the artist himself, and how many were lost.

References

Werner Alfred. Amedeo Modigliani (trans. Fateeva). - St. Petersburg: ICAR, 1994. - 126 p., ill.

Vilenkin V.Ya. Amedeo Modigliani. - 2nd ed., rev. and additional - M.: Art, 1989. - 175 p., l. ill. - (Life in art).

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The beginning of the journey

Amedeo Modigliani was born in Italy into a petty-bourgeois Jewish family. His parents had noble roots and gave their son a decent education. Since childhood, Amedeo grew up in an atmosphere saturated with the creativity of the Renaissance. Thanks to his mother, a native of France, he was well versed in poetry and philosophy, history and painting, and also mastered the French language, which would later help him live and work in Paris.

Before he came of age, Amedeo Modigliani was twice on the verge of death. First he fell ill with pleurisy, and then with typhus. Tormented by illness, in his delirium he saw the works of Italian masters of painting. This is what determined his life path. And already in 1898 he began to take lessons in private art school Guglielmo Micheli. But he was forced to interrupt his studies due to the illness that overcame him again. This time Amedeo contracted tuberculosis. After a short forced break, the future artist resumes his studies, but this time at the Free School of Nude Painting, and then at the Venice Institute fine arts.

Paris: a new stage of creativity

The mother always admired the talent of her youngest son and encouraged him in every possible way. creative development. So, in 1906, thanks to his mother, who raised money for her son, Amedeo went to Paris for inspiration and fame. Here he plunges into the creative atmosphere of Montmartre and meets many creators of that time - Picasso, Utrillo, Jacob, Meidner.

In the capital of world art, Amedeo Modigliani is constantly experiencing financial difficulties. His plight improved somewhat in 1907, when he met Paul Alexandre, a friendship with whom he would carry throughout his life. Alexander patronizes the artist - buys his works, organizes orders for portraits, as well as the first exhibition of Modigliani. However, fame and recognition still do not come.

Amedeo Modigliani devoted himself entirely to sculpture for some time. He works with stone blocks and marble. Brancusi, Epstein, Lipchitz had a great influence on Modigliani’s work during that period. In 1912, some of his works were even purchased. But poor health and worsening tuberculosis forced him to return to painting.

The artist continued to create during the First World War, to which he was not taken for health reasons. In 1917, an exhibition of Modigliani was opened, where he presented his works in the nude genre. However, local authorities recognized his works as indecent and literally a few hours after the opening they closed the exhibition.

Very little is known about the further period of the artist’s life. Amedeo Modigliani died in early 1920 from tuberculous meningitis that had taken over his life.

Love stories

The artist was distinguished by his ardent nature and amorousness. He admired female beauty, idolized and praised her. It is known that in 1910 he had an affair with Anna Akhmatova, which lasted a year and a half. In 1914, another serious romance happened in his life. The flamboyant and eccentric Beatrice Hastings was not only Amedeo's lover and muse, but also a promoter. Thanks to her scandalous articles about Modigliani, he gained some fame. True, not as a brilliant artist, but as a bohemian lover of alcohol and drugs.

After an affair with Beatrice, a young muse, nineteen-year-old Jeanne Hebuterne, bursts into the artist’s life. He glorified her beauty in 25 portraits. Jeanne gave birth to his child, and when the artist learned about the muse’s second pregnancy, he hastened to propose to her. But the couple never had time to get married in the church due to the death of the artist. Unable to withstand the separation, the day after the death of her lover, Zhanna decides to commit suicide.

Characteristics of creativity

Amedeo Modigliani, photos of whose works do not convey even a hundredth part of the artist’s skill, was skilled in creating portraits. He recreated through smooth lines and strokes. His works combine seemingly incompatible things - expression and harmony, linearity and generality, plasticity and dynamism. His portraits did not look like a reflection in a mirror or a photograph. Rather, they conveyed Modigliani’s inner feeling and were distinguished by elongated shapes and generalized color zones. He doesn't play with space. In the paintings it seems compressed, conditional.

Modigliani is a descendant of the great philosopher Spinoza.

“Modigliani. “Jew”—with these words the artist introduced himself to strangers. He was always confused by his nationality, but he chose the path not of denial, but of affirmation.

Amedeo had an heir, but he abandoned his son even before his birth.

The first surge in demand and sincere public interest in his work arose after Modigliani’s death, or rather, during his funeral.

V had a reputation as an irrepressible rowdy and reveler, and he was not allowed into all establishments.

Amedeo had He could quote poems of Renaissance poets and modern creators for hours on end.

In fact, contemporaries knew little about the life of Amedeo Modigliani. The biography was reconstructed after his death using his mother’s diaries, letters and stories from friends.

Amedeo Modigliani- Italian painter, sculptor, a prominent representative of expressionism, worldwide famous artist Parisian art school.

Amedeo grew up in Italy, where he studied ancient art and became interested in painting. He studied drawing at the Florentine and then at the Venetian Academy of Arts. Having moved to the capital of France in 1906, he came under the influence of the works of. But as a result, he developed his own unique style, the distinctive feature of which was rich, dense color.

In the fall of 1907, Amedeo Modigliani met the doctor Paul Alexandre, who became the first patron of the young artist and a collector of his paintings. In the same year, the first exhibition of paintings by the aspiring artist took place at the Autumn Salon. Beginning in 1908, his exhibitions were regularly held at the Salon des Indépendants.

Modigliani's talent as a painter was most fully revealed in the genre of portraiture. The artist never took orders to paint his portraits and depicted only people he knew well, as if recreating his own image of the model.

During his life in Paris, the artist constantly changed his residential addresses. Many believe that eternal homelessness was a blessing for him, creating the ground for creative upswings. For some time, the artist lived in a workshop shed, located in the middle of a vacant lot, completely overgrown with bushes. Sometimes he even had to spend the night at the Paris Saint-Lazare train station.

In the spring of 1909, the painter moved to an atelier located in Montparnasse. A year later, he met young Anna Akhmatova and was infatuated with her for more than a year. The impetus for the development of Modigliani's sculptural creativity was his acquaintance with the sculptor. In 1911, Amedeo Modigliani exhibited the stone heads he created. In 1912, he exhibited 7 of his sculptures at the Autumn Salon. In 1913 he decided to return to painting.

At this time, the artist’s chronic tuberculosis worsened, so he was not taken to the front in the First World War. For several years he lived in Paris, where he painted and periodically organized exhibitions. In 1917 Amedeo met the young Jeanne Hebuterne, who became his main model. Some time later, the young people began to live together. In 1918, they had to leave Paris to escape the war and go to the south of France. In November 1918, Modigliani and Hebuterne had a daughter.

Two years later, the artist died of tuberculosis. The next day, Jeanne Héburtin, who was in her last month of pregnancy at the time, committed suicide.

Biography and episodes of life Amedeo Modigliani. When born and died Amedeo Modigliani, memorable places and dates important events his life. Artist Quotes, photos and videos.

Years of life of Amedeo Modigliani:

born July 12, 1884, died January 24, 1920

Epitaph

Left a mark in people's hearts,
The memory of you is forever alive.

Biography

Biography of Amedeo Modigliani - life story genius artist, recognized only after death. Modigliani's life was filled with many hardships - poverty, misunderstanding of his contemporaries, drugs, failed relationships and serious illnesses. Today, Modigliani's paintings are sold for fabulous sums - Amedeo is considered one of the most famous artists of the 19th-20th centuries.

Perhaps, if not for a difficult childhood, Modigliani would never have become an artist. The boy grew up in a poor family of Italian Jews and was sick a lot - first with pleurisy, then with typhus. During his fever, Amedeo raved about paintings Italian artists, and when he recovered, his parents allowed him to leave school and take up painting to help the young man realize his dreams. By the age of eighteen, Modigliani’s mother was able to save some money so that he could continue his studies and work in Paris, where Amedeo moved.

In Paris, Modigliani was constantly short of money. And not only because his paintings hardly sold, but also because, finding himself in bohemian French society, young Modigliani soon became interested in alcohol and drugs. He survived mainly thanks to his patrons, who saw great talent in the young man. But Modigliani’s only lifetime exhibition was closed within a few hours; the police from the station opposite were outraged by the images of nude models in Modigliani’s paintings.

Modigliani's personal life was also stormy - it was rumored that he had love affairs with all the women who posed for him. He himself explained this by necessity, saying how you can draw a woman and show her beauty and sensuality without ever knowing her. Among Modigliani's famous novels is his love affair with Anna Akhmatova. Modigliani's last and most important model was the artist Jeanne Hebuterne. In fact, they were spouses. Jeanne gave birth to Modigliani only daughter— she was named after her mother.

Hebuterne was pregnant with her second child when her husband died suddenly. Modigliani's death occurred when he was only 35 years old. Modigliani's cause of death was tuberculous meningitis. The day after Amedeo Modigliani's death, his wife committed suicide by jumping out of a window. At the time of her death, she was nine months pregnant. Modigliani's funeral took place in Paris; Modigliani's grave is located in the Père Lachaise cemetery. The remains of his wife, reburied ten years after her death, rest in the adjacent grave.

Life line

July 12, 1884 Date of birth of Amedeo Modigliani.
1898 Modigliani's visit to Guglielmo Micheli's private art studio.
1902 Admission to the Free School of Nude Painting from the Academy of Arts in Florence.
1903 Admission to the Venice Institute of Fine Arts.
1906 Moving to Paris.
1910 Meeting Akhmatova.
December 3, 1917 Opening of Modigliani's only lifetime exhibition.
April 1917 Meet Jeanne Hebuterne.
November 29, 1918 Birth of Modigliani's daughter, Jeanne.
January 24, 1920 Modigliani's date of death.

Memorable places

1. Livorno, where Amedeo Modigliani was born.
2. Modigliani House in Italy.
3. Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where Modigliani studied.
4. Cafe "Rotunda", where Parisian artists often gathered and where Modigliani met Akhmatova.
5. Modigliani's house (workshop) in Paris, where he lived and worked in 1916.
6. Modigliani's house in Paris, where he lived in his last years before his death.
7. The building of the former Charité hospital, where Modigliani died.
8. Père Lachaise cemetery, where Modigliani is buried.

Episodes of life

In Paris, Modigliani was in poverty, like many other artists. Addicted to alcohol, he sometimes tried to pay for drinks with his drawings or sketches, which no one bought. For example, the owner of a brasserie in Montparnasse, who had a liking for a pale, dark-haired young man in a felt hat, agreed to such a barter. True, Rosalie was an illiterate woman and used the drawings she received from Modigliani to light the fireplace, so only a few works have survived. On them Amedeo left the signature “Modi” - translated from French as “damned”.

The period of relations with Anna Akhmatova was very fruitful for the artist. In total, Modigliani wrote about 150 works in which one can detect a portrait resemblance to the Russian poetess. Akhmatova herself preserved only one drawing by Modigliani. When the poet Anatoly Naiman asked Anna Andreevna if she had a will, she replied: “What kind of inheritance can we talk about? Take Modi’s drawing under your arm and leave.”

During the last years of Modigliani's life, his paintings finally began to sell. Amedeo and Zhanna had money, she became pregnant with her second child, and it seemed that things were going uphill. Alas, but sudden illness ended the artist's life, followed by his beloved - of her own free will. After the death of both parents, Modigliani's daughter was taken in by her sister Amedeo.

Covenant

"Happiness is an angel with a sad face."

TV story about Modigliani's life

Condolences

“Everything divine in Modigliani only sparkled through some kind of darkness. He was completely unlike anyone else in the world.”
Anna Akhmatova, poetess

“Our Modigliani, or Modi, as he is called, was a typical and at the same time very talented representative of bohemian Montmartre; rather, he was the last true representative of bohemia.”
Ludwig Meidner, artist