Amedeo Modigliani: fall into eternity. Amedeo Modigliani: an unrecognized genius

P. Picasso

Outstanding italian painter and sculptor. Born July 12, 1884 in Livorno. After studying at the school of painting in Livorno under G. Micheli, in 1902 Modigliani entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, and a little later - at the Academy in Venice.

In early 1906 he arrived in Paris, where he began to search for a modern artistic language. Experienced the influence of P. Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, P. Picasso, Fauvism and Cubism, but eventually developed own style, which is characterized by a rich and dense color.

In November 1907, Modigliani met Dr. Paul Alexander, who rented a studio for him and became the first collector of his work. The artist became a member of the Independent group and in 1908 and 1910 exhibited his work in their salon.

Acquaintance with the sculptor Constantin Brancusi in 1909 played a fundamental role in the development of Modigliani's sculptural work. From Brancusi, Modigliani received support and valuable advice. During these years, Modigliani was mainly engaged in sculpture and the study of works of classical antiquity, Indian and African plastics. In 1912 he exhibited seven sculptures at the Salon d'Automne.

With the outbreak of World War I, many of Modigliani's friends left Paris. The artist was oppressed by changes in life, unemployment, poverty. During this time, he met the English poet Beatrice Hastings, with whom he lived for two years. Modigliani was friendly with such different artists, as Picasso, Chaim Soutine and Maurice Utrillo, as well as with collectors and business people - Paul Guillaume and Leopold Zborowski. The latter became the patron of the artist and supported his work.

During these years, Modigliani returned to painting and created, perhaps, his most significant works. The abstractness inherent in his works was a consequence of the study of the art of ancient civilizations and the Italian primitive, as well as the influence of his friends the Cubists; at the same time, his works are distinguished by a striking subtlety of psychological characterization. Later, the formal side of his work becomes more and more simple and classical, reduced to a combination of graphic and color rhythms.

In 1917, Modigliani, at that time already very ill and prone to alcoholism, met Jeanne Hebuterne, who became his companion in the last years of his life. The following year, Zborowski organized a personal exhibition of the artist at the Bertha Weil Gallery. She was not successful, but caused a scandal with several images of nudity: they were considered indecent, and at the request of the police, the canvases were removed. Nevertheless, some French and foreign collectors showed interest in Modigliani's work. In 1918, the artist went to the Cote d'Azur for rest and treatment and stayed there for some time, continuing to work hard. Modigliani died shortly after returning to Paris, January 24, 1920. In the morning next day Jeanne Hebuterne committed suicide.

Modigliani's works combine purity and refinement of style, symbolism and humanism, a pagan sense of fullness and unbridled joy of life, and a pathetic experience of the torment of an always restless conscience.

This unrecognized genius died in dire poverty, and now for his paintings at auctions lay out a fortune. The name of the scandalous artist, about whom one of his colleagues said that "the original painter was star boy, and for him there was no reality", shrouded in legends. The work of the great creator, who did nothing for show, cannot be put within the framework of one artistic direction.

Amedeo Modigliani: a short biography

The Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani was born in Livorno in 1884 into a Jewish family. His father declares himself bankrupt, and the head of the family in hard times becomes the boy's well-educated mother. Possessing strong character and unbending will, a woman who knows several languages ​​perfectly earns money by translating. Younger son Amedeo is a very beautiful and sickly child, and Eugenia Modigliani does not have a soul in her baby.

The boy is strongly attached to his mother, who quickly recognizes his ability to draw. She sends her 14-year-old son to the local artist Micheli's school. A teenager, who by that time had received a versatile education, forgets about everything, he only does what he draws for days, completely surrendering to his passion.

Acquaintance with the masterpieces of world art

A frequently ill boy, who was also diagnosed with tuberculosis, was taken by his mother to the island of Capri in 1900 to improve his health. Amedeo Modigliani, who visited Rome, Venice, Florence, gets acquainted with the greatest masterpieces of world art and mentions in his letters that " beautiful images haunted his imagination ever since." young painter become recognized Italian masters, including Botticelli. Later artist who dreams of devoting his life to art, will resurrect in his works the refinement and lyricism of their images.

Two years later, the young man moved to Florence and entered the school of painting, and later continued his studies in Venice, where, according to researchers of the genius, he became addicted to hashish. The young man develops an individual style of writing, which is fundamentally different from the existing artistic trends.

Bohemian life in Paris

A few years later, Amedeo Modigliani, who lost his inspiration in Italy, thinks about the bohemian life in France. He longs for freedom, and his mother helps her beloved son move to Paris to Montmartre and supports all his creative pursuits. Since 1906, Modi, as the artist's new friends call him (by the way, the word maudit is translated from French as "damned"), enjoys the special spirit of the city. A handsome painter, who has no end to fans, does not have enough money.

He wanders around the cheapest furnished rooms, drinks a lot and tries drugs. However, everyone notes that the artist, addicted to alcohol, has a special love for cleanliness, and he washes his only shirt every day. No one could compete in terms of elegance with the irresistible Amedeo Modigliani. Photos of the artist, which have survived to this day, perfectly convey his amazing beauty and sophistication. All the ladies go crazy at the sight of a tall painter dressed in a velor suit walking along the street with a sketchbook at the ready. And none of them could resist the charm of the poor master.

Many mistake him for an Italian, but Modigliani, who opposes anti-Semites, does not hide the fact that he is a Jew. An independent person who considers himself an outcast in society does not mislead anyone.

Unrecognized genius

In France, Amedeo is looking for his style, paints, and treats new friends in bars with the proceeds from their sale. For three years spent in Paris, Modigliani does not receive recognition from viewers and critics, although the artist's friends consider him an unrecognized genius.

In 1909, Amedeo Modigliani, whose biography is filled with dramatic events, meets a very eccentric sculptor Brancusi and is fond of working with stone. The young man does not have enough money for wood or sandstone for future masterpieces, and he steals at night from the construction site of the city metro desired material. Later, he quits sculpting because of a diseased lung.

Platonic romance with Akhmatova

A new period in the master's work begins after meeting A. Akhmatova, who arrived in Paris with her husband N. Gumilyov. Amedeo is fond of the poetess, calls her the queen of Egypt and endlessly admires her talent. As Anna later admits, they were connected only by platonic relationships, and this unusual romance energized two creative people. Inspired by a new feeling, an ardent man paints portraits of Akhmatova, which have not survived to this day.

Most of the works sent to Russia disappeared during the revolution. Anna had one portrait left, which she incredibly cherished and considered her main wealth. Recently, three surviving sketches of a naked poetess were found, although Akhmatova herself claimed that she never posed without clothes, and all of Modi's drawings are just his fantasy.

New relationship

In 1914 artist Amedeo Modigliani meets an English traveler, poetess, journalist B. Hastings, and all of Paris is following the stormy showdown between the two people. The emancipated muse of a genius was a match for her beloved, and after violent quarrels, insults, scandals that shook the city, a truce follows. An emotional painter is jealous of his girlfriend, beats, suspecting flirting and betrayal. He drags her by the hair and even throws the woman out of the window. Beatrice tries to rid her lover of bad habits However, she is not very good at it. Tired of endless quarrels, the journalist leaves Modigliani two years later, who wrote his best work. They never saw each other again.

The main love of the painter's life

In 1917 scandalous artist meets a 19-year-old student Jeanne, who becomes his favorite model, muse and most devoted friend. The lovers settle down together, despite protests from the girl's parents, who do not want to see a riotous Jew as their son-in-law. In 1918, the couple moved to Nice, where a comfortable climate favorably affects the health of the master, undermined by alcohol and drugs, but neglected tuberculosis is no longer amenable to treatment. In the fall, happy Amedeo Modigliani and Jeanne Hebuterne become parents, and the painter in love invites his girlfriend to register a marriage, but a rapidly developing illness ruins all plans.

At this time, the artist's agent arranges exhibitions and sells paintings, and interest in the work of a brilliant creator increases along with prices for works of art. In May 1919, the young parents returned to Paris. Modi is very weak, and seven months later he dies in a hospital for the homeless in absolute poverty. Upon learning of the death of her beloved, Jeanne, who is expecting her second child, is thrown from the sixth floor. Life without Amedeo seems meaningless to her, and Hebuterne dreams of joining him in order to enjoy eternal bliss in another world. The girl carried her love to last breath, and in the most difficult moments, it was she who was the only support for her beloved rebel and was his faithful guardian angel.

AT last way the artist was seen off by all of Paris, and his beloved, whom the bohemian circle recognized as his wife, was modestly buried the next day. Ten years later, Jeanne's family agreed to transfer her ashes to the grave of Amedeo Modigliani, so that the souls of the lovers would finally find peace.

Daughter Jeanne, named after her mother, died in 1984. She devoted her life to studying the creativity of her parents.

Man is the whole world

The artist does not want to know anything except the person himself, whose personality is his only source of inspiration. He does not paint still lifes and landscapes, but refers to portrait painting. Abstracted from the realities of life, the creator works day and night, for which he receives the nickname "lunatic". Living in his own world, he does not notice what is happening outside the window and does not follow how time passes. Not at all like the rest, Amedeo Modigliani, who admires the bodily beauty, sees people. The works of the master confirm this: on his canvases, all the characters are like the ancient gods. The artist declares that "man is the whole world that is worth many worlds."

On his canvases live not only heroes immersed in quiet sadness, but also their brightly pronounced characters. The artist, who often pays with pencil sketches for food, allows his models to look into the eyes of the creator, as if into a camera lens. He paints familiar people, children on the streets, models, and he is not in the least interested in nature. It is in the portrait genre that the author develops an individual style of writing, his own canon of painting. And when he finds it, he no longer changes it.

Unique Talent

The Creator admires the naked female body and finds harmony between it and the quivering soul of the heroines. Graceful silhouettes, according to the researchers of his work, look like "fragments of a fresco, written not from certain models, but as if synthesized from other models." Amedeo Modigliani first of all sees in them his ideal of femininity, and his canvases live in space according to their own laws. Glorifying beauty human body works become famous after the death of the master, and collectors from all over the world begin to hunt for his canvases, on which people have unthinkably elongated heads and long necks of an ideal shape.

According to art historians, such elongated faces appeared from African plastics.

Own vision of the heroes of the paintings

Amedeo Modigliani, whose works cannot be viewed briefly, pays close attention to characteristic faces that at first glance resemble a flat mask. The more you peer into the master's canvases, the more clearly you understand that all his models are individual.

Many portraits of the genius creating own world, sculptural, it is clear that the master carefully works out the silhouette. In later works, the painter adds roundness to elongated faces, tones pink heroine cheeks. This is a typical move of a real sculptor.

Amedeo Modigliani, unrecognized during his lifetime, whose photos of his paintings convey him unique talent, paints portraits that are not at all like a reflection in a mirror. They convey the inner feelings of the master, who does not play with space. The author strongly stylizes nature, but he grasps something elusive. A talented master does not just copy the features of the models, he compares them with his inner instinct. The painter sees images covered with sadness and uses sophisticated stylization. Sculptural integrity is combined with the harmony of line and color, and the space is pressed into the plane of the canvas.

Amedeo Modigliani: works

The paintings, created without a single correction and impressing with the accuracy of forms, are dictated by nature. He sees his poet friend immersed in dreams ("Portrait of Zborovsky"), and his colleague - impulsive and open to all people ("Portrait of Soutine").

On the canvas "Alice" we see a girl with a face resembling an African mask. Adoring elongated forms, Modigliani draws an elongated silhouette, and it is clear that the proportions of the heroine are far from classical. The author conveys internal state young creation in whose eyes one can read detachment and coldness. It can be seen that the master sympathizes with the serious girl beyond her years, and the audience feels the warm attitude of the painter towards her. He often draws children and teenagers, and his characters are reminiscent of the works of Dostoevsky, which Amedeo Modigliani used to read.

Paintings with the names "Nude", "Portrait of a Girl", "Lady with a Black Tie", "Girl in Blue", "Yellow Sweater", "Little Peasant" are known not only in Italy, but also in other countries. They feel compassion for the person, and each image is fraught with a special secret and amazing beauty. Not a single canvas can be called soulless.

"Jeanne Hebuterne in a red shawl" - one of recent works author. The woman who is expecting her second child is depicted with big love. Modigliani, who idolizes his beloved, sympathizes with her desire to isolate herself from the unfriendly outside world, and the spirituality of the image in this work reaches unprecedented heights. Amedeo Modigliani, whose work is covered in the article, penetrates the very essence of human experiences, and his Jeanne, who seems defenseless and doomed, humbly accepts all the blows of fate.

The incredibly lonely genius, unfortunately, became famous only after his death, and his priceless works, which he often gave away to passers-by, gained worldwide fame.

Amedeo Modigliani- Italian painter, sculptor, who is prominent representative 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 fell under the influence of the works,. But as a result, he developed his own, unique style, hallmark which became a rich, dense color.

In the autumn of 1907, Amedeo Modigliani met the physician Paul Alexander, who became the young artist's first patron and collector of his paintings. In the same year, the first exhibition of paintings by the novice artist took place in the Autumn Salon. Beginning in 1908, his exhibitions were regularly held with the Salon des Indépendants.

Modigliani's talent as a painter was most fully revealed in the portrait genre. The artist never took orders for writing 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 address of residence. Many believe that eternal homelessness was a boon for him, setting the stage for creative ups and downs. For some time, the artist lived in a shed-workshop, standing in the middle of a wasteland, completely overgrown with shrubs. Sometimes he even had to spend the night at the Saint-Lazare railway station in Paris.

In the spring of 1909, the painter moved to an atelier located in Montparnasse. A year later, he met the young Anna Akhmatova and was infatuated with her for more than a year. The impetus for the beginning of 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 arranged exhibitions. In 1917, Amedeo met the young Jeanne Hebuterne, who became his main model. Some time later, 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 at that time on last month pregnancy, committed suicide.

Until he moved to Paris in 1906. In Paris, he met artists such as Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brinkushi, who had a great influence on his work. Modigliani was in poor health - he often suffered from lung diseases and at the age of 35 died of tuberculous meningitis. About the life of the artist is known only from a few reliable sources.

Modigliani's heritage consists mainly of paintings and sketches, but from 1914 he was mainly engaged in sculptures. Both on canvases and in sculpture, Modigliani's main motive was a man. Apart from this, several landscapes survive; still lifes and genre paintings did not interest the artist. Often Modigliani turned to the works of representatives of the Renaissance, as well as to the African art that was popular at that time. At the same time, Modigliani's work cannot be attributed to any of the modern trends of that time, such as cubism or fauvism. Because of this, art critics view Modigliani's work as separate from the mainstreams of the time. During his lifetime, Modigliani's work was not successful and became popular only after the death of the artist: at two Sotheby's auctions in 2010, two paintings by Modigliani were sold for 60.6 and 68.9 million US dollars, and in 2015 "Reclining Nude" was sold at auction "Christie" for 170.4 million US dollars.

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✪ Diary of a Genius. Amedeo Modigliani. Part VII. Diary of a Genius. Amedeo Modigliani. Part VII.

✪ Modigliani, "Girl in a shirt"

✪ Diary of a Genius. Amedeo Modigliani. Part VI. Diary of a Genius. Amedeo Modigliani. Part VI.

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Biography

Childhood

Amedeo (Jedidiah) Modigliani was born into a Sephardic Jewish family, Flaminio Modigliani and Eugenia Garcin, in Livorno (Tuscany, Italy). He was the youngest (fourth) of the children. His elder brother, Giuseppe Emanuele Modigliani (1872-1947, family name meno), later a well-known Italian anti-fascist politician. His mother's great-grandfather, Solomon Garcin, and his wife Regina Spinoza settled in Livorno as early as the 18th century (however, their son Giuseppe moved to Marseille in 1835); the father's family moved to Livorno from Rome in the middle of the 19th century (the father himself was born in Rome in 1840). Flaminio Modigliani (son of Emanuele Modigliani and Olimpia Della Rocca) was a mining engineer who ran coal mines in Sardinia and managed nearly thirty acres of forest land owned by his family.

By the time of the birth of Amedeo (family name dedo) family affairs (trade in firewood and coal) fell into decay; mother, born and raised in Marseille in 1855, had to earn a living by teaching French and translations, including works by Gabriele d'Annunzio. In 1886, his grandfather settled in Modigliani's house - Isaac Garcin, who had become impoverished and moved to his daughter from Marseilles, who, until his death in 1894, was seriously engaged in raising his grandchildren. His aunt Gabriela Garcin (who later committed suicide) also lived in the house, and thus Amedeo was immersed in French from childhood, which later facilitated his integration in Paris. It is believed that it was the romantic nature of the mother that had a huge impact on the worldview of the young Modigliani. Her diary, which she began to keep shortly after the birth of Amedeo, is one of the few documentary sources about the life of the artist.

At the age of 11, Modigliani fell ill with pleurisy, in 1898 with typhus, which was an incurable disease at the time. This became a turning point in his life. According to his mother, lying in a feverish delirium, Modigliani raved about the masterpieces of Italian masters, and also recognized his destiny as an artist. After his recovery, his parents allowed Amedeo to drop out of school so that he could start taking drawing and painting lessons at the Livorne Academy of Arts.

Study in Italy

In 1898, Modigliani began visiting the private art studio of Guglielmo Micheli in Livorno. At 14, he was the youngest student in his class. In addition to lessons in the studio with a strong focus on impressionism, in the atelier of Gino Romiti Modigliani studied to portray the nude. By 1900, young Modigliani's health had deteriorated, in addition, he fell ill with tuberculosis and was forced to spend the winter of 1900-1901 with his mother in Naples, Rome and Capri. From his travels, Modigliani wrote five letters to his friend Oscar Ghiglia, from which one can learn about Modigliani's attitude towards Rome.

In the spring of 1901, Modigliani followed Oscar Ghiglia to Florence - they were friends despite a nine-year age difference. After spending the winter in Rome in the spring of 1902, Modigliani entered the Free School of Nude Painting. (Scuola libera di Nudo) in Florence, where he studied the art of Giovanni Fattori. It was during that period that he began to visit Florentine museums and churches, to study the Renaissance art that admired him.

A year later, in 1903, Modigliani again followed his friend Oscar, this time to Venice, where he remained until moving to Paris. In March he entered the Venice Institute fine arts (Istituto di Belle Arti di Venezia) while continuing to study the works of the old masters. At the Venice Biennales of 1903 and 1905, Modigliani got acquainted with the works french impressionists- sculptures by Rodin and examples of symbolism. It is believed that it was in Venice that he became addicted to hashish and began to take part in seances.

Paris

At the beginning of 1906, with a small amount of money that his mother was able to raise for him, Modigliani moved to Paris, which he had dreamed of for several years, as he hoped to find understanding and stimulus for creativity among Parisian artists. At the beginning of the 20th century, Paris was the center of world art, young unknown artists quickly became famous, opened more and more avant-garde trends painting. Modigliani spent the first months in Parisian museums and churches, got acquainted with painting and sculpture in the halls of the Louvre, as well as with representatives of modern art. At first, Modigliani lived in a comfortable hotel on the right bank, as he considered it appropriate to his social position, but soon he rented a small studio in Montmartre and began attending classes at the Colarossi Academy. At the same time, Modigliani met Maurice Utrillo, with whom they remained lifelong friends. At the same time, Modigliani became closer to the poet Max Jacob, whom he then repeatedly painted, and Pablo Picasso, who lived near him in Bato Lavoir. Despite his poor health, Modigliani took an active part in the noisy life of Montmartre. One of his first Parisian friends was german artist Ludwig Meidner, who called him " last representative bohemia":

“Our Modigliani, or Modi as he is called, was a typical and at the same time very talented representative of the bohemian Montmartre; rather, even he was the last true representative of Bohemia ".

While living in Paris, Modigliani experienced great financial difficulties: although his mother regularly sent him money, they were not enough to survive in Paris. The artist often had to change apartments. Sometimes he even left his works in apartments when he was forced to leave the next shelter, as he could not pay for the apartment.

In the spring of 1907, Modigliani settled in a mansion, which was leased to young artists by Dr. Paul Alexander. The young doctor became Modigliani's first patron, and their friendship lasted seven years. Alexander bought drawings and paintings by Modigliani (his collection included 25 paintings and 450 graphic works), and also arranged commissions for portraits for him. In 1907, several of Modigliani's works were exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, the following year, at the urging of Paul Alexander, he exhibited five of his works at the Salon des Indépendants, among them the portrait of the Jewess. Modigliani's works were left without public attention, because they did not belong to the then fashionable direction cubism, which arose in 1907 and whose founders are Picasso and Georges Braque. In the spring of 1909, through Alexandre Modigliani, he received the first order and painted the portrait "Amazon".

Sculpture

In April 1909, Modigliani moved to an atelier in Montparnasse. Through his patron, he met the Romanian sculptor Constantin   Brâncuși, who later had a huge influence on Amedeo. For some time, Modigliani preferred sculpting to drawing. It was even said that for his sculptures, Modigliani stole stone blocks and wooden sleepers from the construction sites of the metro being built at that time. The artist himself was never puzzled by the denial of rumors and fabrications about himself. There are several versions why Modigliani changed his field of activity. According to one of them, the artist had long dreamed of doing sculpture, but did not have the technical capabilities that became available to him only after moving to a new atelier. According to another, Modigliani wanted to try his hand at sculpture because of the failure of his paintings at exhibitions.

Thanks to Zborowski, Modigliani's work was exhibited in London to rave reviews. In May 1919, the artist returned to Paris, where he took part in the Autumn Salon. Upon learning of Jeanne's re-pregnancy, the couple decided to get engaged, but the wedding never took place due to Modigliani's tuberculosis at the end of 1919.

Modigliani died on January 24, 1920 from tuberculous meningitis in a Paris clinic. A day later, on January 25, Jeanne Hébuterne, who was 9 months pregnant, committed suicide. Amedeo was buried in a modest grave without a monument in the Jewish section of the Père Lachaise cemetery; in 1930, 10 years after Jeanne's death, her remains were buried in a nearby grave. Their child was adopted by Modigliani's sister.

Creation

The direction in which Modigliani worked is traditionally referred to as expressionism. However, this issue is not so clear cut. No wonder Amedeo is called the artist of the Parisian school - during his stay in Paris, he was influenced by various masters visual arts People: Toulouse-Lautrec, Cezanne, Picasso, Renoir. In his work there are echoes of primitivism and abstraction. The sculptural studios of Modigliani clearly show the influence of the then fashionable African sculpture on his work. Actually expressionism in the work of Modigliani is manifested in the expressive sensuality of his paintings, in their great emotionality.

nude

Amedeo Modigliani is rightfully considered the singer of the beauty of the naked female body. He was one of the first to portray nude more emotionally realistic. It was this circumstance that at one time led to the lightning-fast closure of its first personal exhibition in Paris . The nudity in the works of Modigliani is not abstract, refined images, but real portrait images. The technique and warm light range in Modigliani's paintings "revives" his canvases. Paintings by Amedeo, made in the nude genre, are considered the pearl of his creative heritage.

(1884-1920) italian artist, graphic artist and sculptor

AT modern consciousness the appearance of Amedeo Modigliani was largely influenced by the brilliant performance of the French actor Gerard Philip in the film "Montparnasse-19". He created the image of an unrecognized genius who died alone and in poverty. But this is only partly true: contemporaries recognized the talent of Amedeo Modigliani. However, at the beginning of the century there were many artists in Paris, and not all of them were able to assert themselves, become famous and rich. Nevertheless, the legend has been created, and it is very difficult to change the prevailing stereotype.

Biographical information about Amedeo Modigliani is contradictory and extremely scarce. So, according to one of the legends, it was assumed that the artist's mother came from the family of B. Spinoza. In fact, the famous philosopher died without issue.

As for the father, he was not the owner of the bank, as Modigliani's admirers said, but was only its founder. Therefore, the fact that a poor artist in Italy had rich relatives who did not support him in time also belongs to the realm of fiction.

In fact, both Amedeo Modigliani's father and mother came from Orthodox Jewish families. His ancestors settled in Livorno, where the mother of the future artist, Eugenia Garcin, married Flaminio Modigliani. They had four children - Emmanuele, a future lawyer and member of parliament, Margherita, who became the foster mother of the artist's daughter, Umberto, who became an engineer, and, finally, Amedeo. By the time of his birth, the family was on the verge of ruin, and only with the help of Modigliani's friends could they somehow get back on their feet. Amedeo Garcin, Eugenia's older brother, helped more than others. He further helped the future artist, who was named after his uncle.

Amedeo Modigliani studied well enough, but the school did not interest him at all. In 1898, he suffered a serious illness - typhus. Apparently, at this time, Modigliani realized that he could draw. Soon drawing captured him so much that he began to ask his mother to find him a teacher. At the age of twelve, Amedeo began working in a studio run by Guglielmo Micheli, a supporter of post-impressionism. However, the formation of Amedeo Modigliani took place under the influence of many artists. His work was affected by the passion for domestic artists, primarily representatives of the Sienese and Florentine schools - Sandro Botticelli and Filippo Lissh.

At the end of 1900, Amedeo Modigliani fell ill again - typhus gave a complication to the lungs. On the advice of doctors, he went south and lived for two years in Naples. There he first began to paint sculpture and architecture. In the sketches of the sculptures of the Neapolitan cathedrals, the ovals of his future paintings are already visible.

In 1902, Amedeo Modigliani returned to Livorno, but soon left his homeland again. For several months he attended the Free School of the Nude in Florence. it educational institution was a branch of the Institute of Fine Arts in Venice. There he became a teacher famous graph Fattori. From him, Modigliani adopted an enduring love of line, simplicity of form, while maintaining volume. Modigliani liked to paint nudes, admiring the fragility and grace of the female body. It mainly creates chamber portraits, avoiding the deliberate pretentiousness inherent, for example, in the paintings of Picasso. He also paid great attention to space, achieving deliberate asymmetry. At the same time, his works are distinguished by a special lyricism; when studying them, a feeling of fragility and unreliability of the outside world is born.

With the help of his uncle, banker Amedeo Garsena, Amedeo Modigliani travels to Venice several times. But gradually he begins to understand that he must definitely get to Paris, which was then considered an artistic Mecca. In 1906, Modigliani finally settled in Paris.

At first, he enrolled in the Colarossi Academy, but soon left it, because he could not come to terms with the framework of the academic tradition. Amedeo Modigliani rents a studio in Montmartre, where his first Parisian works appeared. But a year later, the artist moves from Montmartre. At that time, he has an admirer - Dr. Paul Alexander. Together with his brother, the doctor maintained a kind of shelter for poor artists. Modigliani settled there in the autumn of 1907. It was Alexander who became the buyer of the Jewess, for which he then paid only two hundred francs.

And a little later, he convinced Amedeo Modigliani to give his work to the exhibition of the Salon des Indépendants. At the end of 1907, five works were exhibited there. Italian master. Familiar doctors snapped up these paintings. In autumn, Modigliani exhibits again at the Salon, but this time no one buys his work. Depression, complete loneliness, in which the artist found himself because of his "explosive" nature, addiction to alcohol caused the appearance of a kind of internal barrier, which so interfered with him all subsequent years.

Amedeo Modigliani constantly communicated with his contemporaries - J. Braque, M. Vlaminck, Pablo Picasso. Fate will give him only fourteen years for creativity. During this time, the young man will develop interesting artist, which will create its own unique way of depicting figures and human faces where will dominate swan necks, elongated ovals, somewhat elongated torsos, almond-shaped eyes without pupils.

At the same time, all Modigliani's characters are easily recognizable, although what we have before us is the author's vision of his characters, close at the same time to decadent stylization and African sculpture.

The portraits of Amedeo Modigliani were written in part and under the influence of Cezanne, whose large exhibition he saw in 1907. From the passion for Cezanne, there are attempts to convey the subject through a special plastic space and a new palette of colors. But Modigliani, in this case, retains extraordinary vision hero, almost always depicting a seated person, as, for example, in his painting "Seated Boy".

Feeling sorry for the artist, some specially commissioned paintings for him to support him. But mostly he painted close people - M. Jacob, L. Zborowski, P. Picasso, D. Rivera. One cycle of portraits was inspired in 1914 by a meeting with the Russian poetess Anna Akhmatova. Unfortunately, only one drawing has survived from the entire cycle, the one that Akhmatova took with her. In it, the dominant space is the famous running line of Amedeo Modigliani.

Acquaintance with Akhmatova cannot be considered accidental. We should not forget that already in his youth Modigliani went through the influence of the philosopher F. Nietzsche, as well as the poet and writer G. D "Annunzio. He knew perfectly well classical Italian and new French symbolist poetry, read F. Villon, Dante, Sh Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud At the beginning of the 20th century, a passion for the philosophy of A. Bergson will come.

The versatility of interests, passion for travel, the desire to constantly discover new things in communication with contemporaries led Modigliani to turn to different forms of art. Almost simultaneously with serious paintings his sculptures appear.

Having chosen the path of a free artist for himself, Modigliani leads a bohemian lifestyle. He doesn't finish art schools, but just being in them, trying hashish and turning from a shy, modest young man into a cult figure. All those who knew Modigliani celebrate him unusual appearance and propensity to do extraordinary things. At the same time, the addiction to alcohol and drugs can be explained by the fact that he sought to overcome internal uncertainty or simply succumbed to the influence of friends.

Amedeo Modigliani has a lot in common with Matisse - the laconicism of the line, the clarity of the silhouette, the generalization of the form. But Modigliani does not have Matissian monumentalism, his images are much more chamber, intimate (portraits of women, nudes), Modigliani's line has extraordinary beauty. The generalized drawing conveys the fragility and grace of the female body, the flexibility of the long neck, and the sharp characteristic of the male posture. You recognize the artist certain type faces: close-set eyes, laconic line small mouth, a clear oval, but these repeated techniques of writing and drawing in no way destroy the individuality of each image.

At the end of his life path Amedeo Modigliani met the aspiring artist Jeanne Hebuterne, and they began to live together. As usual, Modigliani painted a portrait of a person who became close to him. But, unlike her former girlfriends, she became for him a ray of happiness and light. However, their relationship was short-lived. In the winter of 1920, Modigliani died quietly in the hospital. After the funeral, Jeanne returned to her parents. But there she found herself in complete isolation, because the Catholic family could not come to terms with the fact that her husband was a Jew. Despite the fact that at that time Zhanna was expecting their second child, she did not want to live without her lover and jumped out of the window. She was buried a few days later.

After the death of her parents, little Jeanne was raised by Modigliani's relatives, they kept some of his paintings and did not prevent the girl from getting involved in painting. When she grew up, she became a biographer of her father and created a book about him.

The creative heritage of Amedeo Modigliani has spread all over the world. True, many of the artist's works have not been preserved due to nomadic image the author's life. Often, Modigliani paid with his paintings, gave them to friends or gave them for safekeeping. Some of them died as the First World War. So, for example, a folder with drawings, left by the Russian writer I. Ehrenburg at the embassy of the Provisional Government in 1917, disappeared.

Amedeo Modigliani has become a kind of symbol of his difficult era. He was buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery. On the grave there is a brief inscription - "Death overtook him on the threshold of glory."