Modigliani Gallery (Guide)

Amedeo Modigliani was born in Livorno in 1884, painted in Montparnasse, and died of tuberculosis in 1920 at thirty-five. In little more than a decade he fixed an unforgettable image: faces stretched long, necks slender, eyes closed as almonds without painted irises—perhaps not to meet the sitter’s gaze but to carve their outline into memory.

While contemporaries pursued realism or light, Modigliani simplified and stylized his subjects to bring inner presence forward. The elongated contours draw on African masks and medieval Italian painting—a “realism through style” rather than likeness alone.

This gallery gathers portraits of people he actually painted in Montparnasse. Jeanne Hébuterne was his companion and a recurring model in his late work. Portrait of Paul Guillaume depicts a dealer who supported him; casual bearing meets a sharp gaze. Studio companions—painters, poets, the everyday circle of Montparnasse—share the same manner yet differ in hair, dress, the direction of a look, the curve of a mouth. Style held constant, individuality still legible: that tension is the room’s reward.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access / Wikimedia Commons