Baterbys Art Auction Gallery - Bios - Amedeo Clemente Modigliani

Amedeo Clemente Modigliani

(1884-1920) Born in the melting pot of Livorno, Tuscany, his father had been a business man and his French-born mother raised him to be trilingual and nurtured his early love of art. Modigliani painted everyone close to him, from his patrons and dealers. It seems Modigliani knew he was living in a special time and place and he wanted to record his group for posterity. Sociable and intellectually curious, he connected with the other leading creative spirits of his day through his art. Recent writers have asserted that Modigliani and Picasso were like oil and water but this is untrue. They exhibited together on numerous occasions such as the 1919 Mansard Gallery exhibition in London and socialized together. In addition, he made portraits of Picasso in painting and pencil. Modigliani tried to be his own person artistically. What prevented Modigliani from becoming a card-carrying Cubist was most likely his love of Italian Renaissance portraiture and his commitment to being a Jewish artist.