Modigliani the Melancholy Angel - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 8884914248 ISBN 13: 9788884914248

Synopsis

A stunning volume accompanies the largest retrospective of this modernist master ever mounted, an exhibit, opening at the Musee du Luxembourg in Paris in October 2002 and running through March 2003, will be a comprehensive survey of Modigliani's career, from his earliest days as a painter in search of a style to his premature death in 1920. The exhibit presents Modigliani's paintings, sculptures, drawings, and never before seen masterpieces, selected from major international museums and private collections.
Modigliani's relatively short working life was enriched by associations with Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Brancusi. This book offers students of modernism the opportunity to view as a continuity the monumental work of a primary artist of Fauvism and Cubism.

About this title

Synopsis

Opening at the Musee du Luxembourg in Paris from 25 October 2002 through 2 March 2003, the exhibition will present a wide selection of Modigliani's work including paintings, sculptures, drawings, and never before seen masterpieces, selected from major international museums and private collections. The show will be a comprehensive survey of Modigliani's career, from his earliest days as a painter to his premature death in 1920. Amadeo Modigliani was one of the greatest Italian artists of the early 1900's. Born in Livorno in 1884, he moved to Paris in 1906, during the explosion of Fauvism and Cubism, which had a determining impact on his artistic career. Here Modigliani befriended Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Brancusi. His friendship with Constantin Brancusi kindled Modigliani's interest in sculpture, in which he would continue his very personal idiom, distinguished by strong linear rhythms, simple elongated forms, and verticality. In Paris Modigliani immersed himself in cafe and nightlife, developing a dissolute life-style that enchanced his reputation as a bohemian but eventually ruined his life.

As his health began to fail around 1914 he turned to painting almost exclusively, producing some of his best works. His interest in African masks and sculpture remains evident, especially in the treatment of the sitters' faces: flat and mask-like, with almond eyes, twisted noses, pursed mouths, and elongated necks. As his health began to fail around 1914 he turned to painting almost exclusively. Leopold Zborowski became his exclusive representative and moved Modigliani to the south of France in early 1918. Paris had become too unstable because of the fighting during World War I. It was here that he met Jeanne Hebuterne who became his mistress. By spring, they were back in Paris. Jeanne gave birth to a daughter in the fall and his works were beginning to sell. But, his health took a turn for the worse. He died on January 24, 1920, of tubercular meningitis. The following day Jeanne, nine months pregnant with her second child, threw herself from a window of her parents' home and died.

Edition details

• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8884914248
• ISBN 13: 9788884914248
• Binding: Hardcover