Description
Amedeo MODIGLIANI (1884-1920). Fairground or Circus Athlete. Pencil drawing on framed paper. Inventory number in pencil lower right 3.35. This is the number of the complete inventory of the collection drawn up under the direction of Paul Alexandre. Personal stamp of Paul Alexandre in red ink. Dimensions: 40x26.6 cm. Provenance: Paul Alexandre, Modigliani's doctor from 1907 to the summer of 1914 and close friend. In the family by descent. (Minor restoration). The world of theater and show business was a constant source of inspiration for Modigliani. Many of his drawings feature trapeze artists, acrobats, athletes and costumed figures, often devoid of any composition. Modigliani sought above all to capture a stylized, sometimes idealized pose in drawings he dubbed "marionettes". The impetus is captured in pencil or Indian ink. In these drawings, the subject is treated without decoration, with an extremely pure line, responding to the artist's imperious desire for stylization. Bibliography: Exhibition Modigliani inconnu. Drawings from the Paul Alexandre collection. Catalog no. 24. Reproduced under n°69. After several stays in Italy, Modigliani decided to make a career for himself in Paris, settling in Montmarte in 1906. In 1907, Paul Alexandre, then a young doctor, rented a pavilion on rue du Delta (no longer in existence), which he made available to his brother Jean and his artist friends. The pavilion was both a guest house and a creative studio. At the end of 1907, Modigliani rubbed shoulders with Albert Gleizes and Brancusi. Paul Alexandre was immediately seduced by "his prodigious artistic gifts". The two would remain friends until their respective mobilizations. It was Paul Alexandre who convinced the young artist not to destroy any of his drawings or notebooks, most of which he collected. This treasure trove of infinite variations on the theme of caryatids and heads was the subject of a traveling exhibition, revealing to the public an extraordinary wealth of work. We discover an artist who drew "at the speed of speech", and Maurice de Vlaminck recalled at the end of his life "those intelligent hands [tracing] with a single stroke a drawing without hesitation".
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Amedeo MODIGLIANI (1884-1920). Fairground or Circus Athlete. Pencil drawing on framed paper. Inventory number in pencil lower right 3.35. This is the number of the complete inventory of the collection drawn up under the direction of Paul Alexandre. Personal stamp of Paul Alexandre in red ink. Dimensions: 40x26.6 cm. Provenance: Paul Alexandre, Modigliani's doctor from 1907 to the summer of 1914 and close friend. In the family by descent. (Minor restoration). The world of theater and show business was a constant source of inspiration for Modigliani. Many of his drawings feature trapeze artists, acrobats, athletes and costumed figures, often devoid of any composition. Modigliani sought above all to capture a stylized, sometimes idealized pose in drawings he dubbed "marionettes". The impetus is captured in pencil or Indian ink. In these drawings, the subject is treated without decoration, with an extremely pure line, responding to the artist's imperious desire for stylization. Bibliography: Exhibition Modigliani inconnu. Drawings from the Paul Alexandre collection. Catalog no. 24. Reproduced under n°69. After several stays in Italy, Modigliani decided to make a career for himself in Paris, settling in Montmarte in 1906. In 1907, Paul Alexandre, then a young doctor, rented a pavilion on rue du Delta (no longer in existence), which he made available to his brother Jean and his artist friends. The pavilion was both a guest house and a creative studio. At the end of 1907, Modigliani rubbed shoulders with Albert Gleizes and Brancusi. Paul Alexandre was immediately seduced by "his prodigious artistic gifts". The two would remain friends until their respective mobilizations. It was Paul Alexandre who convinced the young artist not to destroy any of his drawings or notebooks, most of which he collected. This treasure trove of infinite variations on the theme of caryatids and heads was the subject of a traveling exhibition, revealing to the public an extraordinary wealth of work. We discover an artist who drew "at the speed of speech", and Maurice de Vlaminck recalled at the end of his life "those intelligent hands [tracing] with a single stroke a drawing without hesitation".
