I have always been a lover of art, always amazed at what people could create from their minds or their interpretations of what they see. The connection the mind has to embellish someone with these abilities is a gift.
Today we are going to look at the significant painters of Montparnasse in Paris. In the early 1900's artists lived in the heart of the city which made up Bohemia. Montparnasse was on the left bank of the river and Monmartre (home of Moulin Rouge) on the right bank of the river. Prior to artists and musicians settling here it was rural farmland, peaceful and quiet.
The artist we will focus on is Amedeo Modigliani. He arrived in Monmarte in 1906 after having studying art in several places in Italy where he was from. His artistic encouragement started when he was a small boy. He was often ill with respiratory ailments and his mother gave him art supplies to pass the time which was often sedentary and solitary. His dream as a young man was to go to Paris and study painting there. It was the destination of the time.
"Girl with Blue Eyes" by Modigliani
Modigliani dove into the scene and was considered the "prince" of the artists he worked along side. He was charming and a ladies man. There was little money to be made in this time for artists and Modigliani was often poor. He had developed a drinking habit that caused him to sell paintings and drawings in bars just to pay for his drinks. He worked exclusively with faces and figures and did not care for the embellishment of costume or setting. He did no landscapes or still life.
"Bride and Groom" by Modigliani
What we can notice about Modigliani's work is that most of the faces he painted were long with pensive expression on their faces, we can see the beginning of Cubism start to enter his work though he would not take it as far as his fellow painters. What is most haunting is that most of his subjects eyes appear blank as if he has removed the window to their souls; as if by painting them he captured something from them they might not be willing to give.
"The Servent Girl" by Modigliani
The colors Modigliani used feel muted and somber. There is nothing flashy about his palette, only colors of a man saddened by life. However, there are a number of paintings in his collection where the figures to have distinct eyes and if you spend enough time looking at his work, the ones with eyes can frighten you.
"Lunia Czechowska" by Modigliani
In 1914 Modigliani met two people that changed his life and his career, Beatrice Hastings from England and Leopold Zborowski from Poland. He was intimately involved with Beatrice and she encouraged his painting over his drinking and Zborowski was his champion for selling art. After 3 years together the relationship with Beatrice fell short as it was noted that she was often "cold" towards Modigliani. He later married Jeanne Hebuterne in 1917. Modigiliani would die 3 years later at the age of 35 from tubucular meningitis.
The other artists of Montparnasse and Monmarte:
"A Finger on Her Cheek" by Kees Van Dongen
"Nude against a Red Background" by Pablo Picasso
"The Dance" by Andre Derain
"Kiki of Montparnasse" by Moise Kisling
No comments:
Post a Comment