Discover the dramatic life and work of Amedeo Modigliani, a pioneer of modern figurative painting

Amedeo Modigliani experimented with sculpture and drawing, but is primarily known for his paintings of nudes and portraits characterized by elongated figures, faces, and necks. He began painting in his youth in Italy before moving to Paris in 1906, during the height of the avant-garde movement. Influenced by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Cezanne, Modigliani developed his own unique, uncharacterizable style. His nudes upended traditions at the time due to their immodesty, candid sexuality, and ability to convey the subject's personality. Because of the works' scandalous nature, Modigliani had very little success with his paintings while he was alive. This volume features stunning full-page illustrations of Modigliani's works, along with information about his life, including his bohemian, over-the-top lifestyle and his untimely, tragic death. Featuring some of Modigliani's best-known works, this book gives an insightful and comprehensive overview on the artist known for modernizing figurative painting.

About the Author:

Olaf Mextorf is an art historian currently working for museums. He already published books on Oscar Schlemmer, Vincent van Gogh and others.

Spot on: Amedeo Modigliani in an exciting joint catalogue

Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920) moved to Paris as a 22-year-old art student and is regarded as probably the last true bohémien in Montmartre. The exhibition catalogue to mark the 100th anniversary of his death shows him for the first time as a leading member of the avant-garde who carried the revolution of Primitivism well into the 20th century.

Modigliani’s famous nudes, unusual portraits and unique sculptures are contrasted with works by Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brâncusi and André Derain as well as artefacts from so-called “primitive” cultures. In doing so the volume focuses in particular on Modigliani’s lifelong study of the art of Primitivism, which also interested the artist friends who influenced his work. Some 100 works are on view, including numerous main works by Modigliani from the great museums and most important private collections from America to Asia.

Now available in an attractively priced, beautifully produced flexi edition, this important examination of Modigliani's art focuses on the enigmatic genius of the avant-garde. One of the most recognizable artists of his era, Amedeo Modigliani is also perhaps one of the least understood. In this thorough, yet refreshingly concise volume, Werner Schmalenbach examines Modigliani's oeuvre, offering a chronological tour of every aspect of Modigliani's career. The informative commentary is complemented by hundreds of splendid reproductions, many of them full-page color plates. The result is an intimate portrait of a life devoted to art, and an essential reference for any art lover.

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Пролистать книгу Amedeo Modigliani: Paintings, Sculptures, Drawings

The controversial darling and target of the popular press. Scandalous Amedeo Modigliani

To contemporaries, Amedeo Modigliani was the very definition of Parisian Bohemia, the controversial darling and target of the popular press and the model on which many a novel, play and film was based.

As an artist, the scandalous Modigliani made his name chiefly with his celebrated pictures of women, with almond eyes and long necks and bodies. His style had ancient roots that lay deep in classical antiquity or Africa. But his portraits of intellectual giants of the age, friends such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau or Diego Rivera, were inimitable also. In Doris Krystof’s study, the scene Modigliani was the hero of comes alive, and his sensitive paintings and sculptures speak in tongues.

About the Series:

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art Series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions

The author:

After studying the history of art, history and literary studies in Freiburg im Breisgau and Cologne, Doris Krystof worked as an academic associate at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf and as curator at the Kunsthalle Wien. Since 2001 she has been curator for the collection and changing exhibitions at the K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf. She has authored numerous publications on modern and contemporary art.

Numerous high-quality reproductions accompany this in-depth examination of Modigliani's career, from the penetrating psychological studies of his early portraits, through the more stylized images such as the graceful figures with the famous almond-shaped eyes and swan-like necks, to his mature depiction of nudes, which have become symbols of femininity.

Although Modigliani led the life of the turn-of-the-century bohemian in Paris, dying at the young age of 35, his restless life is scarcely reflected in his paintings, which are characterized by cool detachment and often archaic austerity. This fascinating study reveals how Modigliani drew his inspiration not so much from the avant-garde movements of the time, as from the artists of the Renaissance and Rococo periods.

Modigliani - Sensitive paintings and sculptures that speak in tongues

To contemporaries, Amedeo Modigliani was the very definition of Parisian Bohemia, the controversial darling and target of the popular press and the model on which many a novel, play and film was based.

As an artist, the scandalous Modigliani made his name chiefly with his celebrated pictures of women, with almond eyes and long necks and bodies. His style had ancient roots that lay deep in classical antiquity or Africa. But his portraits of intellectual giants of the age, friends such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau or Diego Rivera, were inimitable also. In Doris Krystof's study, the scene Modigliani was the hero of comes alive, and his sensitive paintings and sculptures speak in tongues.

About the Author:

After studying the history of art, history and literary studies in Freiburg im Breisgau and Cologne, Doris Krystof worked as an academic associate at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf and as curator at the Kunsthalle Wien. Since 2001 she has been curator for the collection and changing exhibitions at the K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf. She has authored numerous publications on modern and contemporary art.

About the Series:

Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Art Series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
 - a concise biography
 - approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

Opening at the Musee du Luxembourg in Paris from 25 October 2002 through 2 March 2003, the exhibition will present a wide selection of Modigliani's work including paintings, sculptures, drawings, and never-before-seen masterpieces, selected from major international museums and private collections. The show will be a comprehensive survey of Modigliani's career, from his earliest days as a painter to his premature death in 1920. Amadeo Modigliani was one of the greatest Italian artists of the early 1900s.

Born in Livorno in 1884, he moved to Paris in 1906, during the explosion of Fauvism and Cubism, which had a determining impact on his artistic career. Here Modigliani befriended Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Brancusi. His friendship with Constantin Brancusi kindled Modigliani's interest in sculpture, in which he would continue his very personal idiom, distinguished by strong linear rhythms, simple elongated forms, and verticality. In Paris Modigliani immersed himself in cafe and nightlife, developing a dissolute lifestyle that enhanced his reputation as a bohemian but eventually ruined his life. As his health began to fail around 1914 he turned to painting almost exclusively, producing some of his best works. His interest in African masks and sculpture remains evident, especially in the treatment of the sitter's faces: flat and mask-like, with almond eyes, twisted noses, pursed mouths, and elongated necks. As his health began to fail around 1914 he turned to painting almost exclusively. Leopold Zborowski became his exclusive representative and moved Modigliani to the south of France in early 1918. Paris had become too unstable because of the fighting during World War I. It was here that he met Jeanne Hebuterne who became his mistress. By spring, they were back in Paris. Jeanne gave birth to a daughter in the fall and his works were beginning to sell. But, his health took a turn for the worse. He died on January 24, 1920, of tubercular meningitis. The following day Jeanne, nine months pregnant with her second child, threw herself from a window of her parents home and died.

Книга об итальянском художнике, рисовальщике и скульпторе Амедео Модильяни (1884–1920).

Его имя звучит как лирическая мелодия, как удачная выдумка для литературного образа; художник всегда был окрылен фантазией и поэзией, которые мешали ему сделать трезвое и конструктивное описание своего творческого метода.

Его портреты и обнаженные натуры стали одним из самых известных произведений ХХ века. Вряд ли какой другой художник стиля модерн был окутан легендами, мифами и небылицами, как Амедео Модильяни: о нем были написаны романы и даже одна театральная пьеса, в фильмах его богемная жизнь изображалась неимоверно приукрашенной, а художественная критика того времени изобиловала прославляющими его анекдотами. Но достоверных свидетельств о его жизни настолько мало, что узнать за всеми этими романтическими чертами подлинного Модильяни действительно нелегко.

Имя Модильяни овеяно всевозможными представлениями о богеме, судьбоносной бедности художника и его буйных страстях. Он является прототипом художника, опьяненного алкоголем, гашишем, любовью и поэзией, который творит свои произведения в модных ателье на Монмартре и Монпарнасе. В возрасте 35 лет, истощенный, сгоревший от туберкулеза, он заканчивает свое земное существование, целиком отданное искусству. И, будто усиливая трагичность его жизни, его невеста Жанна Эбютерн, на последних месяцах беременности вторым ребенком, выбрасывается из окна квартиры ее родителей, расположенной на пятом этаже, оставляя при этом свою маленькую дочку круглой сиротой.

Издание состоит из пяти глав, рассказывающих о жизни художника и об истории создания каждой картины, представленной в издании. Все иллюстрации имеют аннотации. В конце книги приводится летопись жизни и творчества мастера, проиллюстрированная документальными фотографиями, а также подробный список иллюстраций.