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Temporary exhibition of Amadeo Modigliani’s
painting Portrait of Picasso The Portrait of Pablo Picasso (1915, paper glued on carton, oil paint, 34.2 ő 26.3 cm) surprises the viewer not only by its deliberate and willful primitivism but still more by the way this was used to create an image of a man who is very well known to everyone from his self-portraits and from a great deal of documentary material. The Portrait of Pablo Picasso was very likely drawn in one session, quickly and freely. Modigliani was short of canvas, so he found a small piece of carton and glued paper onto it, using the method of Toulouse-Lautrec and Bonnard, whereby the yellowish color of the background material serves as a kind of orientation point. In combination with the paint, which did not cover it entirely, the paper serves in one place as the sitter’s sweater or as highlights on his face. There are two main colors – black, which provides the drawing background, and a red-brown ochre and crimson that is diluted with whitener and which successfully conveys the fresh color of a suntanned face, - as Picasso probably looked when he returned to Paris at the end of the summer of 1915 following a trip to the sea. The portrait undoubtedly was not done from nature; rather it was executed from memory. Certain features of Picasso’s outer appearance were reproduced here very precisely: the lock of hair which covered part of his forehead, the powerful neck and rather wide face – though Picasso’s head was not so round in shape. The intentional spherical shape is an element of the plastic games Modigliani frequently played at this time. The circle was chosen as a module of composition: it not only forms the contour of the head and is supported by such details of the face as the ears, nose, lips and sloping shoulder, as well as by the inclusion of the name of the artist, a sort of pictogram, like a halo over the head. Modigliani signed the painting in large letters, as if warning us: take a close look, this is really Picasso. He could not deny himself the pleasure of playing with the inscription. He not merely wrote for the sake of communicating some information, but he used this as a springboard to create a fantastical design. In each letter he has emphasized the roundness, so that the inscription in no way contrasts with the general structure of the painting and its round-headed personage, instead easily fitting in and becoming part of it. In the way he has sketched the name Picasso, the letter S with its rounded features stands out, so that we seem to become witnesses to the pronouncement of a name that was magical even back then. In the painting there is also one other French inscription that is less visible, though placed in a prominent place – SAVOIR, meaning ‘to know, to see, knowledge.’ Here there is obviously a reference to some higher perception of the secret of creativity, to special knowledge-teachings, all of which are supported by the status of the personage, by his self-sufficient detachment from outside cares, by his inner gaze. Modigliani belonged to the same generation as Picasso and was just three years younger than him. He died at age 35. Picasso, who came to his funeral, survived him by more than a half-century. The Hermitage Publishing House has issued a booklet entitled Amadeo Modigliani. Portrait of Pablo Picasso. The author of the booklet is A.G. Kostenevich, chief researcher of the Department of Western European Art, State Hermitage, and doctor of art history. The picture will be demonstrated till 14 March 2007. |
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Copyright © 2006 State Hermitage Museum |
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