Amedeo Modigliani
Italian, 1884–1920
Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz
INV-2798
Amedeo Modigliani
Italian, 1884–19201916
Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz
Amedeo Modigliani Italian, 1884–1920 →Modernismpaintingmodern and contemporary art
Date
1916
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
81.3 × 54.3 cm (32 × 21 3/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection
After receiving artistic training in Italy, the sculptor and painter Amedeo Modigliani moved to the Parisian neighborhood of Montparnasse in 1906. It was there that he met the artist Jacques Lipchitz, who, wanting to help his financially troubled friend, commissioned Modigliani to paint this portrait on the occasion of his marriage to the Russian poet Berthe Kitrosser. According to Lipchitz, the picture took Modigliani only two days to paint, though Lipchitz persuaded him to work on it for another two weeks in an effort to pay him a larger fee. Despite Modigliani’s exceptional talent, his work only found a market after his death in 1920, which was hastened by tuberculosis and his legendary bohemian lifestyle.
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