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Lot Essay
A photo-certificate from Marc Restellini dated Paris, 14 March 2000 accompanies this painting.
In 1915, Max Jacob introduced Amedeo Modigliani to Paul Guillaume, who immediately began to collect and deal in works by the artist. Guillaume later wrote about Modigliani:
In 1915 he left Montparnasse to set up a studio that I rented for him at 13 rue Ravignon. It was a historic wooden building that had been witness to difficult and heroic moments in the lives of Picasso, Max Jacob, the douanier Rousseau, and many painters today more or less famous. From then on he gave up sculpture, drew less frequently and began to paint--to paint as he lived, sentimentally, violently, erratically, wastefully. I use this last word advisedly because it characterizes accurately Modigliani's extraordinary life. The painter was in fact a poet. He loved and judged poetry not with the cold partiality of a university professor, but with a spirit mysteriously equipped to appreciate all that was sensitive and adventurous (quoted in W. Schmalenbach, Modigliani, Munich, 1990, p. 194).
The strong sculptural elements seen in the rendering of this portrait are reminiscent of the artist's stone heads of 1911-1912 and more importantly, reflect his exploration of Cubism from the study of Picasso's early Cubist paintings. Picasso and Modigliani became friends soon after Modigliani's 1906 arrival in Paris. Picasso's portraits of his mistress Fernande Olivier executed during 1908-1909 depict her face as a series of fractured planes (fig. 1), and works such as these were influential in the development of Modigliani's own work. While Portrait de femme au corsage bleu exhibits a more naturalistic rendering of the face, Modigliani emphasized the temples and cheeks of the face to create a highly modulated surface. Werner Schmalenbach has discussed the influence of Cubism on the artist's works:
The early portraits--those painted in 1915 and 1916, immediately after the sculptural period--are marked by a considerable degree of structuring applied to the human face. They are simplified and are endowed to a greater or lesser degree with articulation and rhythm by the formal manipulations to which they are subjected. Characteristic features are asymmetry and an emphasis on the nose, whether linear or stereometric; closed or hatched-over eyes; and added lettering. The faces threaten to veer out of control, but the cause is never expressive, always formal and never presents the emergence of characteristic and individual expression (W. Schmalenbach, ibid., p. 31).
The works of Paul Cézanne were another seminal influence in the artist's development. The present picture is strongly reminiscent of Cézanne's portraits of Madame Cézanne seated in front of a interior wall, such as Madame Cézanne au fauteuil jaune, 1888-1890 (fig. 2). The composition of Portrait de femme au corsage bleu exhibits a similar treatment of the face, shown in asymmetrical features and brushstrokes of color defining the planes of the face. Furthermore, the relationship of the figure to the background in the present work is unmistakably Cézannesque. The red and brown background organized in a loose grid gives structure to the pictorial space and complements the curved contours of the head and shoulders.
Schmalenbach further observed the originality of Modigliani's painting style:
Gradually, the conspicuous formalism of Modigliani's art gave way to a more relaxed naturalness. The portraits, which now more frequently showed the upper half of the body and the arms, were set free from the formal constraints in which, paradoxically, his formal freedom and self-confidence had hitherto manifested themselves. It was these formal manipulations, transcending the depiction of the person, that had given the portraits of 1915 and 1916 their high aesthetic charm. The change is betrayed, most of all, by the way in which the noses, previously formally accentuated, now progressively lost their significance: the artist no longer placed any particular emphasis on their specific three-dimensional qualities, not on their function as the axis as the axis of the face (ibid., p. 39).
Building on the influences of Picasso and Cézanne, Modigliani created a unique style of portraiture that utilizes a deeply hued palette, rich impasto, and linear drawing. While he incorporated external influences into his work, Modigliani based his portraits on keen observation of the sitter and their attributes. In the present work, the sitter's calm demeanor and tasteful wardrobe are clearly evident; however, the individualizing characteristics have been transformed and rendered immortal by the artist.
Paul Guillaume, one time owner of this painting, was the most significant collector and dealer of Modern and African art in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century, representing artists including André Derain, Francis Picabia and Giorgio de Chirico. He served as the Paris agent for the American collector Dr. Albert Barnes, and lent works of art to one of the first exhibitions of African art held at Alfred Steiglitz's 291 Gallery in New York. Guillaume himself sat for Modigliani, which resulted in four portraits of the dealer, including one executed the same year as the present painting (fig. 3). His gallery at 108 Faubourg Saint-Honoré was one of the major centers of artistic and literary life in Paris during World War I.
(fig. 1) Pablo Picasso, Portrait de Fernande, 1909.
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf.
© 2000 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
(fig. 2) Paul Cézanne, Madame Cézanne au fauteuil jaune, 1888-1890.
Fondation Beyeler, Basel.
(Sale, Christie's, New York, 12 May 1997).
(fig. 3) Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait de Paul Guillaume, 1916.
Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, Las Vegas.
(Sale, Christie's, New York, 13 November 1996).
In 1915, Max Jacob introduced Amedeo Modigliani to Paul Guillaume, who immediately began to collect and deal in works by the artist. Guillaume later wrote about Modigliani:
In 1915 he left Montparnasse to set up a studio that I rented for him at 13 rue Ravignon. It was a historic wooden building that had been witness to difficult and heroic moments in the lives of Picasso, Max Jacob, the douanier Rousseau, and many painters today more or less famous. From then on he gave up sculpture, drew less frequently and began to paint--to paint as he lived, sentimentally, violently, erratically, wastefully. I use this last word advisedly because it characterizes accurately Modigliani's extraordinary life. The painter was in fact a poet. He loved and judged poetry not with the cold partiality of a university professor, but with a spirit mysteriously equipped to appreciate all that was sensitive and adventurous (quoted in W. Schmalenbach, Modigliani, Munich, 1990, p. 194).
The strong sculptural elements seen in the rendering of this portrait are reminiscent of the artist's stone heads of 1911-1912 and more importantly, reflect his exploration of Cubism from the study of Picasso's early Cubist paintings. Picasso and Modigliani became friends soon after Modigliani's 1906 arrival in Paris. Picasso's portraits of his mistress Fernande Olivier executed during 1908-1909 depict her face as a series of fractured planes (fig. 1), and works such as these were influential in the development of Modigliani's own work. While Portrait de femme au corsage bleu exhibits a more naturalistic rendering of the face, Modigliani emphasized the temples and cheeks of the face to create a highly modulated surface. Werner Schmalenbach has discussed the influence of Cubism on the artist's works:
The early portraits--those painted in 1915 and 1916, immediately after the sculptural period--are marked by a considerable degree of structuring applied to the human face. They are simplified and are endowed to a greater or lesser degree with articulation and rhythm by the formal manipulations to which they are subjected. Characteristic features are asymmetry and an emphasis on the nose, whether linear or stereometric; closed or hatched-over eyes; and added lettering. The faces threaten to veer out of control, but the cause is never expressive, always formal and never presents the emergence of characteristic and individual expression (W. Schmalenbach, ibid., p. 31).
The works of Paul Cézanne were another seminal influence in the artist's development. The present picture is strongly reminiscent of Cézanne's portraits of Madame Cézanne seated in front of a interior wall, such as Madame Cézanne au fauteuil jaune, 1888-1890 (fig. 2). The composition of Portrait de femme au corsage bleu exhibits a similar treatment of the face, shown in asymmetrical features and brushstrokes of color defining the planes of the face. Furthermore, the relationship of the figure to the background in the present work is unmistakably Cézannesque. The red and brown background organized in a loose grid gives structure to the pictorial space and complements the curved contours of the head and shoulders.
Schmalenbach further observed the originality of Modigliani's painting style:
Gradually, the conspicuous formalism of Modigliani's art gave way to a more relaxed naturalness. The portraits, which now more frequently showed the upper half of the body and the arms, were set free from the formal constraints in which, paradoxically, his formal freedom and self-confidence had hitherto manifested themselves. It was these formal manipulations, transcending the depiction of the person, that had given the portraits of 1915 and 1916 their high aesthetic charm. The change is betrayed, most of all, by the way in which the noses, previously formally accentuated, now progressively lost their significance: the artist no longer placed any particular emphasis on their specific three-dimensional qualities, not on their function as the axis as the axis of the face (ibid., p. 39).
Building on the influences of Picasso and Cézanne, Modigliani created a unique style of portraiture that utilizes a deeply hued palette, rich impasto, and linear drawing. While he incorporated external influences into his work, Modigliani based his portraits on keen observation of the sitter and their attributes. In the present work, the sitter's calm demeanor and tasteful wardrobe are clearly evident; however, the individualizing characteristics have been transformed and rendered immortal by the artist.
Paul Guillaume, one time owner of this painting, was the most significant collector and dealer of Modern and African art in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century, representing artists including André Derain, Francis Picabia and Giorgio de Chirico. He served as the Paris agent for the American collector Dr. Albert Barnes, and lent works of art to one of the first exhibitions of African art held at Alfred Steiglitz's 291 Gallery in New York. Guillaume himself sat for Modigliani, which resulted in four portraits of the dealer, including one executed the same year as the present painting (fig. 3). His gallery at 108 Faubourg Saint-Honoré was one of the major centers of artistic and literary life in Paris during World War I.
(fig. 1) Pablo Picasso, Portrait de Fernande, 1909.
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf.
© 2000 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
(fig. 2) Paul Cézanne, Madame Cézanne au fauteuil jaune, 1888-1890.
Fondation Beyeler, Basel.
(Sale, Christie's, New York, 12 May 1997).
(fig. 3) Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait de Paul Guillaume, 1916.
Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, Las Vegas.
(Sale, Christie's, New York, 13 November 1996).