Amedeo Modigiliani Life and Work
Essay by mkike69 • November 27, 2012 • Research Paper • 857 Words (4 Pages) • 2,117 Views
Amedeo Modigliani was born in the city of Livorno, Italy on the date of July 12, 1884. He was born into a jewish family with a wealthy background. His family belonged to Livorno's enlightened Jewish bourgeoisie. At the time of Amedeo's birth his family was no longer wealthy. That would not stop his mother from introducing literature poetry and culture into his life. She was a huge influence inn Amedeo's life and they had a very cllose relationship. In his young years He grew frequently sick with pleurisy. After he had recovered from his second time with pleurisy, his mother brought him to southern Italy where they touredNaples, Capri, Rome and Amalfi, then back north to Florence and Venice. During that time he was widely exposed to art culture. At The age of fourteen his mother had enrolled him with the master painter of Livorno, Guglielmo Micheli. Modigliani worked in Michelis's art school for two years (1898-1900). He showed great promise working with Micheli but he was again forced to stop by his sickness and ongoing tuberculosis.
In 1901, while he wasin Rome, Modigliani greatly liked the the work of Domenico Morelli, a painter of melodramatic Biblical scenes in literature. He studied landscape and portraiture, still life, and the nude. This was not just a accedemic persuit for him when he wasn't painting nudes he was busy in trying to seduce his household maid ." In 1902, Modigliani continued what was to be a life-long infatuation with life drawing, enrolling in the Accademia di Belle Arti (Scuola Libera di Nudo, or "Free School of Nude Studies") in Florence. A year later while still suffering from tuberculosis, he moved to Venice, where he registered to study at the Istituto di Belle Arti." While he was in Venice he smoked hashish for the first time and began to hang out in the less reputable ares of the cites. This was due not only to his teenage years of rebellion but the fact that he wanted to be like the radical philosopher Nietzsche.
"In 1906 Modigliani moved to Paris, then the focal point of the avant-garde." He settled in Le Bateau-Lavoir, renting a studio in Rue Caulaincour. In the beginning when he moved to paris he wrote to his mother on a regular basis, sketched nudes and drank lots of wine all while living in a slight manor of poverty although he did strive to maintain his appearance as not poor. He was a bit non sociable at this point said his friends. Within a year of arriving in Paris, however, his demeanour and reputation had changed dramatically." Within a year of arriving in Paris, however, his demeanour and reputation had changed dramatically. He transformed himself from a dapper academician artist into a sort of prince of vagabonds." He stood out even in his Bohemian surrounding, he drank a lot, carried on many affairs with multiple women, and slept around a lot. He also used absinthe and hashish heavily. "While drunk, he would sometimes
...
...