Amadeo Modeligliani is one of the most expensive artists in the world. The story of his life is an example recognized only after the death of a genius. He began his creative search in France, where at that time the bohemian of high art was the most progressive. Along with it, stars such as Picasso, Brancusi, Soutine, Kisling, Gris and Lipschitz were born. But his paintings did not bring fame and income. The artist could not find his style for a long time, until she met Zhanna on his way. Modigliani, for the rest of his days, drew inspiration from this relationship. Portraits with her image are now world famous and valued at tens of millions of dollars. But this couple drank a lot of grief before taking pride of place in the history of painting. Let's plunge together into the story of the selfless love of Modigliani.
Love Story: Amadeo Modigliani and Jeanne Hebuterne
Modigliani arrived in Paris from Italy at the age of twenty-two. He was known as a gallant handsome man; therefore, many model women visited his bed. For a long time, Amadeo burned his life, wasting it on random women and drug addictions. But he had only two serious love affairs. Both left a strong imprint on his formation as an artist. Truly, he wanted to marry only the young Jeanne Hebuterne.
When, for 50 centimes, Modigliani once again pored over his canvas in an open studio at the Academy of Calarossi, he drew attention to a miniature brown-haired woman with thick braids. The novice artist made sketches on the easel and each time she erased her work, unsatisfied with the result. Amadeo at that moment began to paint her portrait. So in his life appeared 19-year-old Jeanne. Modigliani at that time was already 33.
Amadeo introduced his beloved to all his friends. They unanimously indicated in their memoirs that this was the only woman who became his eternal love. Jeanne immediately moved to Amadeo. Her parents were against such a union, as they were Catholics, and the artist was considered unreliable, in addition, he had Jewish roots. In spite of everything, this couple took place in an unofficial marriage. They lived so poorly that at times they had nothing to dine. The paintings were in rare demand. Then Modigliani could go up to some friend and sell his coat. His ailments intensified, coughing kept him awake at night.
French creativity
Jeanne Modigliani is not as well known to the general public as an artist. More often it is spoken of as the muse of Amadeo. For a long time, the descendants of the artists did not give consent to the exhibition of her works. It first took place only in 2000 in Venice.
Art critics highly appreciate her work among other expressionists. The basic concept of the paintings reflected the spirit of the era, but in detail Jeanne stood out with her own style. She paid special attention to trifles and the choice of color palette. But the period of living together with Modigliani left a special imprint - as if their canvases were painted with a single brush. One soul for two is placed in these canvases forever.
Another Modigliani: a portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne
After meeting with Jeanne Amadeo painted more than 20 portraits of her. He did not work in the most fashionable genres at that time - landscapes and still lifes. In the work of Modigliani, the portrait of Jeanne Hebutern occupies a special place. He did not want to know anything around except the human soul. He gained his pictorial style thanks to the young muse and never retreated from his personal canon.
His works have characteristic features: the face from the portrait resembles a dense mask, almond-shaped eyes, a nose with a spatula and a small mouth with pursed lips combine them together, make them look like an inexperienced look. But upon thoughtful consideration, we see the individual model, which is expressed in the inclination of the head, the position of the hands or a bright choice of colors that is not characteristic of his contemporaries.
All life is the vanguard
Modigliani led a wild life, suffered from sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis. He paid with his drawings in taverns and with landlords. He completely drowned his work as a sculptor in a fit of despair in the Seine. By the way, they are still sought after, because now their value is undeniable. And then acquaintances only laughed at the tipsy Modigliani, who decided to demonstrate his work to them.
Amadeo's creative manner made him too dissimilar to others to become famous in due time. His first exhibition failed miserably due to the fact that the police drew attention to the obscene image of a nude model on the canvas. Perhaps he found his present place in life only next to Jeanne, who humbly followed her deity in the most difficult days.
Tragic ending
In 1918, Jeanne's parents thawed a little and made a couple trip to Nice with a close friend of the artist, Zbrovsky. There they had a daughter, who was named the same as her mother - Giovanna (Jeanne) Modigliani. His work of this period was entirely devoted to the chosen one. And on his return to Paris, Amadeo learned that he would become a father for the second time. Then he undertook to formalize the relationship, marry Jeanne. His plans were prevented by a deadly disease - tuberculous meningitis.
In January 1920, Modigliani died. Jeanne silently grieved, what caused her family's fears. Her parents took her home by force, since she was 9 months pregnant. Having lost her love and the father of her unborn child, Jeanne committed suicide. She jumped out of the window of the 5th floor. Amadeo was accused of this. Only 10 years later, the family agreed to her reburial next to her beloved spouse. World fame found them only after death. Years later, the adult daughter of artists, Jeanne Modigliani, learned the whole life story of her parents. She wrote the book "Modigliani: Man and Myth", which contains a complete biography of the genius of painting.