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t has often been claimed that the most

significant modern sculpture has been

- created by artists who were also, or even

primariy, painters: Degas, Gauguin, Matisse,

and Picasso are great examples of artists who

successfully expressed themselves through

both painting and sculpture. This daim can be

strengthened further by examiniing the case of

Amedeo Modigliani, whose consuming and

frustrated aspiration was to be a sculptor.

His three-dimensional

figures were conceived as an

ensemble, "arranged in

step-wise fashion like tubes

of an organ to produce the

special music he wanted.'

Influenced by the Sienese sculptor imo di

Camaino, Modigliani began producing three-

dimensional works as early as 1902 while

worling near Carrara in his native Italy. Since

those early examples cannot positively be

traced, it is his meeting in 1908 with Con-

stantin Brancusi in Paris that marks the first

spark of Modigliani's sculptural ambitions,

in which he would pursue his very personal

idiom, distinguished by strong linear rhythms,

simple elongated forms, and verticality.

Opposite. Head or a Womian. limestone. 25-3/4 inches high.On this page: Head. ,nsestove.

On this page, top left: Head (c. 1911-1912), limestone; above: Caryatid(c. 1913-1914), drawving; below;i Head (e. 1911), stone. Opposite, left:Caryatid (1330), by Tino di Camaino; right: Nu a la Chemise f1918), oilOil canzvas.

In 1909, by moving to a new studio in Montparnasse,

Modigliani became closer to Brancusi, who inspired and ii'

encouraged him to follow his example. Between 1909 and . . _ X

1914, Modigliani dedicated himself to sculpture, using the fsame subjects in two and three dimensions. His main con- .. . ..*

cern was to give shape and volume to the human figure, his

experimental drawings of human heads, full figures and T '

caryatids were preparations for his sculptures, and among _

the nearly thirty known examples of his sculptural work, , .

there are mainly female heads, a standing figure and a cary- i -g X

atid. Influenced by the archaic forms of idols and primitive ye

masks, Modigliani produced a series of elongated heads

with characteristic stylization that he carved in either wood X

or limestone obtained from salvaged material, masonry >_

from building sites and railway sleepers from the local sub- 'i.' _ '4 Z

way station undergoing construction at the time. ,Y.,... '

Influenced by African and Oceanic art, which he had seen y _- ' ,

at the Musee de l'Homme, Modigliani made creative use of it -.

in his own work. The hieratic face, the elongation of the head

and the geometric simplicity of facial features have been asso- ; _

cdated wAith other non-European sculptural traditions, such as Cycladic, Archaic Greek, Khmer or Egyptian sculpture. ~

1In 1911, he displayed a combined work of sculptures anddrawings at the studio of the artist Souza Cardoso in Mont-

much modeling in clay, 'too much mud.' The only way to

save sculpture was to begin carving again, direct carving in

parnasse; the next year, he exhibiteda series of seven heads at the Salond'Automne. His three-dimensionalfigures were conceived as an ensem-ble, "arranged in step-wise fashionlike tubes of an organ to produce thespecial music he wanted."' He alsodreamed of producing a great seriesof caryatids conceived as "columnusof tenderness" ("colonnes de ten-dresse")2 to surround his Temple ofBeauty. His only known sculptedCaryatid (1914), today at the iMuseumof Modern Art in New York, exempli-fies how a rigid immobility changesto dynamic movement.

His friend Jacques Lipchitz explainedModigliani's position promoting directcarving versus modeling: "Modigliani,like some others at the time, was verytaken with the notion that sculpture

"Those who consider his

sculpture merely as an inter-

lude, a discipline intended to

confirm and solidify the

painter's vision by the use of

other materials, base their

argument on the existence of

innumerable caryatids in pen-

cil, watercolor, gouache and

oil and only one in stone. . ."

was sick, that it hadbecome very sick with Rodin and his influence. There was too

stone. We had many very heated dis-cussions about this, for I did not forthe moment believe that sculpturewas sick, nor did I believe that directcarving was by itself a solution toanything. But Modigliani could notbe budged; he held firmly to his deepconviction. He had been seeing agood deal of Brancusi, who livednearby, and he had come under hisinfluence. When we talked of differentkinds of stone-hard stones and softstones-Modigliani said that the stoneitself made very litde difference; theimportant tling was to give the carvedstone the feeling of hardness, and thatcame from within the sculptor himself:regardless of what stone they use, somesculptors make their work look soft,but others can use even the softest of

stones and give their sculpture hardness."3

The outbreak of the First World War, drugs, alcohol and

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tuberculosis stopped Modigliani from carving. His daugh-ter, Jeanne Modigliani, comments on her father's sculp-

tural production: "Those who consider his sculpture mere-ly as an interlude, a discipline intended to confirm and

solidify the painter's vision by the use of other materials,

base their argument on the existence of innumerable

caryatids in pencil, watercolor, gouache and oil and only

one in stone. The cost of the material, his difficulties in

finding a place to work (his studio was on the ground floor,

and he had to work in the courtyard), his illness, the pres-

sure put on him by the dealers and patrons who would

rather buy paintings and drawings, all this adequatelyexplains why Modigliani would have dozens and dozens ofdrawings on one theme before attempting it in stone."4

Although after 1915 Modigliani devoted himself entire-ly to painting, his experience as a sculptor had funda-

mental consequences on his work, and that period of

sculpting greatly helped develop his personal style. The

characteristics of Modigliani's sculpted heads-long

necks and noses, simplified features and slender oval

faces-soon invaded his painting. Even though his sculp-

tural vocation was aborted, Modigliani's preference for

figure painting over still life or landscape, and the sculp-

rural quality of his portraits, serve as a reminder of hisexperience as a sculptor. By reducing and almost elimi-nating chiaroscuro he achieved, by the strength of his con-tours, his elusive and elliptical line and the abundance ofjuxtaposed colors, a solidity in the flat image that is simi-

lar to the plasticity of his sculpture. @

Notes:

1. A pun on Modigliauni's nae:e his friends called him Modi, which insinuates"maudit," meaning 'accursed" in French.2, Jacques Lipchitz, Amnedeo Modigliani, New York, H.N. Abrams, 1952, p. 6.3. Alfred Werner. Modigliani the Sculptor, New York, Arts, Inc., 1962, p. xxvi.4. Jacques Lipchitz. Amedeo IModigliani, New York, H.N. Abrams, 1952, pp.6-10.S. Jeanne Modigliani, Modigliani: Man and Myth, New York, The OrionPress. 1958, pp. 59-60.

Opposite: Catyatid. On this page, top: Head (1914). bottom: Seared Nude.

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TITLE: Maudit modi: Modigliani’s sculptureSOURCE: Sculpture Review 50 no2 Summ 2001

WN: 0119600726004

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