Modigliani, Amedeo

Modigliani, Amedeo (1884-1920), Italian painter and sculptor, who was concerned with the graceful, simplified, and sympathetic portrayal of the human figure.

Modigliani was born in Leghorn (Livorno) and grew up in a Jewish ghetto, where he suffered serious illnesses as a boy. He studied art in Florence and in 1906 moved to Paris, where he became acquainted with Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and other avant-garde artists living there. In Paris, Modigliani led a reckless, dissipated life that gradually affected on his health. His talent as an artist, however, were never doubted by fellow artists. He was influenced by Fauvism and later by the work of his friend, the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Modigliani first produced sculpture inspired by African carvings, but eventually concentrated on painting.

Modigliani's paintings, highly distinctive and delicate, are marked by sinuous lines, simple, flat forms, and elongated proportions that are almost classical in effect. Portraits and figure studies constitute most of his work, and both are characterized by the oval faces for which he is popularly known. The portraits, although of the utmost simplicity in contour, reveal considerable psychological insight and a curious sense of pathos. He achieved, in his best work, a blend of the dynamism of African sculpture and the pure grace of the early Renaissance style of Botticelli.