In Memorium Amadeo Modigliani

Details

Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
In Memorium Amadeo Modigliani
signed 'John' (lower right)
oil on canvas
50 x 40 in. (127 x 101.6 cm.)
Painted circa 1920

Provenance

with Arthur Tooth & Sons, London.
A.C.J. Wall, Oxfordshire.

Literature

J. Rothenstein, Augustus John, London, 1967, pl. 95.
M. Easton and M. Holyroyd, The Art of Augustus John, London, 1974, pp. 23, 172-3, pl 64.

Exhibited

Leeds, Temple Newsam, Augustus John, July-August 1946, no. 61.
London, Royal Academy, Diploma Gallery, Exhibition of Works by Augustus John, O.M., R.A., March-April 1954, no. 407.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

In April 1913 Jacob Epstein introduced John to the Italian sculptor and painter, Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920). Fascinated by primitive art, John was very taken with two stone heads that Modigliani showed him in his Montmartre studio, one of which appears in the present work draped in a widow's veil.

In a letter to D.S. MacColl, dated 27 December 1944, John explained the symbolism in the picture: 'The book represents his [Modigliani's] Bible - Les Chants de Maldoror; the cactus, Les Fleurs du Mal; the guitar, the deep chords he sometimes struck; the fallen tapestry, the ruins of time' (see M. Easton and M. Holyroyd, The Art of Augustus John, London, 1974, pp. 22-3 and 172).

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