In London, at Christie's, the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale took place on February 6, in an incredible evening, full of expectation and magic for this eagerly awaited it, which ended with a total award of 116 million euros.
And she is the queen, Jeanne Hebuterne (au chapeau), one of the most famous portraits of Amedeo Modigliani, the cursed painter, a refined lady, where the sinuous curve of Jeanne's neck and the rocking of her body seem to shape the canvas. If one looks at Jeanne's posture, a mannerist form is evident, with references to Parmagianino and Pontormo, which can be found above all in the last period of the artist's life, placing the portrait of his mistress as a particularly modern work.
Jeanne Hébuterne au chapeau has passed through several hands of important dealers and collectors, starting with Léopold Zborowski. We find it hanging in the bedroom of the apartment of the merchant Paul Guillaume and in 1929 in an exhibition of his collection. She was then bought by the Belgian collector Henri Belien, who adored Modigliani's opera.
If we compare Modigliani's life with his work, we find a clear contrast. A bohemian life and legendary stories of drunkenness against an almost suave calm of his paintings, almost as if the painting represents the need to seek a balance to his turbulent lifestyle. This work, but above all this woman was probably an element of security for Modigliani (he had taken care of it when he was ill) which allowed him to express himself at his best and with great calm. For these reasons, it has been regarded with greater appreciation than other works, not least by Zborowski himself.
Paul Alexandre, Modigliani's friend and patron in Paris, said of the artist: “The true character of Modigliani is found not in all the stories that have been told about him, but rather in his work. Those who know how to look at his portraits of women, of young people, of friends, and all the others, will discover a man of exquisite sensitivity, tenderness, pride, passion for truth, purity… Each portrait is the result of a deep meditation in front of the model … Modigliani never painted without sense” (P. Alexandre, quoted in M. Restellini, “Modigliani: avant-garde artist or “Painter Schizophrenic””, ??pp 17-32, Restellini (edited by ), Modigliani: The Angel melancholy, exh.cat., London and Paris, 2002, p. 29).
While Alexandre rightly insists that Modigliani is to be judged by his paintings, not by his reputation and the mythology that grew up around him.
Jeanne Modigliani (also known as Giovanna) in her father's biography, aims to banish the myths and traditions that surrounded the artist, carefully describing her mother and how she met the famous peintre maudit: “During the Carnival of 1917 , Modigliani met a young student from Colarossi. Her name was Jeanne Hebuterne and she was nineteen years old. She then lived in rue Amyot, with her father Achille Casimir Hébuterne, an accountant, her mother Eudoxie Anaiis Tellier, and her brother André, also a painter. During Carnival, Jeanne was in the studio of some friends where Japanese prints and drawings of dancers hung on her walls. Of her He wore a chignon, bangs, and her hands are the same in a faded photograph as they appear in the first portrait of her by Modigliani. She was small, her hair brown with reddish highlights and a pale complexion. Mme Roger Wild, who devotedly preserved Jeanne's photographs, remembers her as an intelligent girl with a strong personality (J. Modigliani, Modigliani: uomo e il mito, London, 1959, pp 87-88).
These features are clearly in the foreground Jeanne Hebuterne au chapeau, where russet hair hangs behind the pale head and thin neck. Modigliani's love for Jeanne was an overwhelming force and here it is clearly felt.
The couple, despite her family's disapproval, moved in together on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, as indicated by Zborowski, the Polish poet who had also become her dealer. The end of the First World War saw the couple move to the south of France in and around Nice, and it was at this time that the painter's palette saw other colors, clear and bright similar to the development of his friend Chaïm Soutine. The dark interiors of his earlier portraits increasingly resemble the pastel shades of works such as Jeanne Hebuterne au chapeau with its turquoise as a backdrop and adding a rich luminosity to skin tones. The influence of the south of France, the heat and the light and, in 1918, was decisive in all of Modigliani's subsequent works. The same also had his daughter born, also named Jeanne.
Modigliani spent the beginning of 1919 still in the South and during this time, Jeanne became pregnant again and they returned separately to Paris. Jeanne Hebuterne au chapeau it could have been painted in this period, what suggests it is the door on the back, which we find in some portraits executed in the capital during this period. Watching Jeanne Hebuterne au chapeau, there is a sense of salvation that Jeanne embodies and likewise it is poetically captured, not least in the hieratic gesture that she seems to make, which likens her to a Mannerist Madonna. The raised hand recalls some images of Leda from Zeus in the form of a swan, rejecting that loving force of nature, while also infusing the image with a sense of singular stillness that recalls the Buddhist artworks that enchanted Modigliani.
It's not a mystery for this image: the hand appears raised, it doesn't plead and it doesn't even seem to want to push someone away, because his gaze goes in the other direction, making everything rather an enigmatic, almost religious gesture.
Portraiture represents for Modigliani a means to explore an ideal aspect of humanity, the intimate internal image and contextually external resemblance. This is clearly the case with Jeanne Hebuterne au chapeau: while the hat and dress she wears is a nod to the fashion of the day, the overall effect is one of timelessness. Jeanne served Modigliani as the Muse of an insightful and lyrical exploration of the human spirit, created with an amazing blend of colors that radiate a sense of health.
"Modigliani explained that: to do any job, I must have a living person ... I must be able to see him in front of me" (Modigliani, quoted in J. Modigliani, Modigliani: uomo e il mito, London, 1959, page 82 .). That physical presence is palpable in Jeanne Hebuterne au chapeau, as is the relationship between model and artist. At the same time, Jeanne is instantly recognizable in this work, which has also been described as a manner approaching a serene universality.
It was at this time that Modigliani began to get involved in sculpture and after working for some time under the guidance of the legendary Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, Modigliani began to create a series of elongated stone heads, which had a visual totemic power but equally refined. However, his increasingly precarious health did not allow him to continue sculpture and so he returned to painting.
From here Modigliani's works began to gather more and more attention among critics and the press. He was immediately supported by Zborowski, the first owner of Jeanne Hebuterne au chapeau, who contributed to Modigliani's status and reputation with his support. Zborowski managed to organize the first Modigliani exhibition, held in 1917 at the Berthe Weill Gallery, an event which caused a scandal over a nude, resulting in complaints to the authorities and a visit by the police. Several exhibitions followed in the cafés of Montparnasse, where his drawings were often exchanged for drinks. In 1919 Modigliani also began to enjoy prominence in London, thanks to some sales and reviews of an exhibition held at the French Mansarda Gallery. His fame was on the rise, but his health was deteriorating, so he decided to return to the south of France with Jeanne, where Jeanne soon became pregnant with what was to be their second child. It is remembered from this period that the tone of Modigliani's letters became more and more optimistic, almost exorcising, where his possible return to his homeland, Italy, is discussed. But owing to his state of health, he had instead to return to Paris where he died at the end of January 1920, just as he was on the verge of escaping the squalor which has since become a part of his legendary life. Jeanne followed him in her death just a couple of days later, unable to live without him.
Top lots:
Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) – Jeanne Hebuterne (Au chapeau) - USD 42,104,835
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) - The umbrella - USD 15,128,963
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Nu accropi - USD 11,450,435
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) - After lunch - USD 10,924,931
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) - Murnau – Ansicht mit Burg, Church USD 10,574,595
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - The painter - USD 5,494,723
Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958)- Arbres à la maison bleue - USD 5,319,555
Henri Matisse (1869-1954) - Young girl à la mauresque, green clothes USD 4,794,051
Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) - The meadow - USD 4,443,715
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Minotaure aveugle conduit par une USD 4,443,715
