See Amedeo Modigliani Paintings.
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (July 12, 1884 – January 24, 1920) was an Italian
artist, practicing both painting and sculpture, who pursued his career for the
most part in France. Modigliani was born in Livorno (historically referred to in
English as Leghorn), in Northwestern Italy and began his artistic studies in
Italy before moving to Paris in 1906. Influenced by the artists in his circle of
friends and associates, by a range of genres and art movements, and by primitive
art, Modigliani's œuvre was nonetheless unique and idiosyncratic. He died in
Paris of tubercular meningitis — exacerbated by poverty, overworking, and an
excessive use of alcohol and narcotics— at the age of 35.
Amedeo Modigliani was born into a Jewish family at Livorno, in Tuscany. Livorno
was still a relatively new city, by Italian standards, in the late 19th century.
The Livorno that Modigliani knew was a bustling centre of commerce focused upon
seafaring and shipwrighting, but its cultural history lay in being a refuge for
those persecuted for their religion. His own maternal great-great-grandfather
was one Solomon Garsin, a Jew who had immigrated to Livorno in the eighteenth
century as a religious refugee.[1]
Modigliani was the fourth child of Flaminio Modigliani and his wife, Eugenia
Garsin. His father was in the money-changing business, but when the business
went bankrupt, the family lived in dire poverty. In fact, Amedeo's birth saved
the family from certain ruin, as, according to an ancient law, creditors could
not seize the bed of a pregnant woman or a mother with a newborn child. When
bailiffs entered the family home, just as Eugenia went into labour, the family
protected their most valuable assets by piling them on top of the expectant
mother.
Modigliani had a particularly close relationship with his mother, who taught her
son at home until he was ten. Beset with health problems after an attack of
pleurisy when he was about eleven, a few years later he developed a case of
typhoid fever. When he was roughly sixteen he was taken ill with pleurisy again,
and it was then that he contracted the tuberculosis which was to eventually
claim his life. Each time it was his mother Eugenia's intensive care of him
which pulled him through. After Modigliani had recovered from the second bout of
pleurisy, his mother took him on a tour of southern Italy: Naples, Capri, Rome
and Amalfi, then back north to Florence and Venice.
During his early years in Paris, Modigliani worked at a furious pace. He was
constantly sketching, making as many as a hundred drawings a day. However, many
of his works were lost - destroyed by him as inferior, left behind in his
frequent changes of address, or given to girlfriends who did not keep them.[19]
He was first influenced by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, but around 1907 he became
fascinated with the work of Paul Cézanne. Eventually he developed his own unique
style, one that cannot be adequately categorized with other artists.
He met the first serious love of his life, Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, in 1910,
when he was 26. They had studios in the same building, and although 21-year-old
Anna was recently married, they began an affair.[citation needed] Tall
(Modigliani was only 5 foot 5 inches) with dark hair (like Modigliani's), pale
skin and grey-green eyes, she embodied Modigliani's aesthetic ideal and the pair
became engrossed in each other. After a year, however, Anna returned to her
husband.
Death
Although he continued to paint, Modigliani's health was deteriorating rapidly,
and his alcohol-induced blackouts became more frequent.
In 1920, after not hearing from him for several days, his downstairs neighbor
checked on the family and found Modigliani in bed delirious and holding onto
Hébuterne who was nearly nine months pregnant. They summoned a doctor, but
little could be done because Modigliani was dying of the then-incurable disease
tubercular meningitis.
Modigliani died on January 24, 1920. There was an enormous funeral, attended by
many from the artistic communities in Montmartre and Montparnasse.
Hébuterne was taken to her parents' home, where, inconsolable, she threw herself
out of a fifth-floor window two days after Modigliani's death, killing herself
and her unborn child. Modigliani was interred in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Hébuterne was buried at the Cimetière de Bagneux near Paris, and it was not
until 1930 that her embittered family allowed her body to be moved to rest
beside Modigliani.
Modigliani died penniless and destitute—managing only one solo exhibition in his
life and giving his work away in exchange for meals in restaurants. Since his
death his reputation has soared. Nine novels, a play, a documentary and three
feature films have been devoted to his life.
other artist: Raphael Paintings Frida Kahlo Paintings Douglas Hoffman Paintings Hessam Abrishami Paintings