Reclining Nude
Amedeo Modigliani · 1917
01
Paris. 1917.
One woman. Arms behind her head.
Red cloth. White pillow. Nothing else.
02
The face is a few lines.
Long nose. Small red mouth.
Cheeks flushed pink.
03
Her legs run off the right edge.
Her elbow runs off the top left.
The canvas can't hold her.
04
Top right, his name.
Its first owner: his dealer, Léopold Zborowski.
He paid the models for Modigliani's nudes.
He also set up Modigliani's only solo show.
The whole nude.
Edge to edge.
“Your real duty is to save your dream.”
3 December 1917
Galerie Berthe Weill, Paris. Opening day.
Nudes in the window draw a crowd.
A police commissioner calls them indecent.
The objection, as reported: body hair.
The nudes come out of the window.
Modigliani dies in 1920. He is 35.
Amedeo Modigliani
Italian · School of Paris · 1884 to 1920
Sources · 6