What do Modigliani’s eyeless portraits tell us about soul and love?

This article explores Modigliani’s unique artistic style and life through his exhibition at the Seoul National Museum of Art, and documents his in-depth appreciation of the meaning of eyeless portraits in his work and the artistic philosophy he pursued.

 

On the last day of September, when summer and the coming fall coexisted, I went to the exhibition of Modigliani’s works, “The Legend of Montparnasse,” which was on display at the Hangaram Museum of Art. The exhibition was a long time in the making, and the curator’s hard work and passion for bringing the works together was evident. Modigliani is remembered as a handsome painter who aroused curiosity with his unusual portraits in childhood textbooks and later with his love story with his wife, Jeanne Ebuterne, who was 14 years younger than him, and as a tragic artist who died in abject poverty. In order to present more than 400 works by an artist who did not leave many works during his lifetime, the curators have been fortunate to be able to bring together works that have been painstakingly collected through provenance and contacts with various collectors.
Amedeo Modigliani was born in Livorno, Tuscany, Italy, in the late 19th century. His mother, who believed in her son’s talent despite difficult economic conditions, provided him with an art education, and he left school at the age of 14 after suffering from pleurisy, pulmonary tuberculosis, and pneumonia. Despite this, he traveled with his mother to southern and northern Italy, including Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, where he found artistic inspiration, and these experiences were crucial in bringing out his natural talent. Moving to Montparnasse in Paris, which was emerging as a new center for art at the time, Modigliani interacted with contemporaries such as Picasso and, after meeting the sculptor Brancusi, even immersed himself in sculpture for a time.

 

 

His sculptures were largely influenced by African primitive sculpture, and were an attempt to explore the nature of the human being. The sculptures of this period have a simple yet intense sculptural aesthetic, which had a profound influence on his later paintings. In particular, he applied the simplicity and distorted proportions of his sculptures to his portraits, perfecting a style that was uniquely his own.
Famous for his handsomeness, Modigliani had a fateful love affair with his wife, Jeanne Evouterne, who was 14 years younger than him, and his first and last solo exhibition, in 1917, was shut down after a nude painting of him displayed in the front of the gallery was ordered removed for being obscene. This shows how ahead of his time he was, but also how controversial his work was at the time. He died of tuberculosis-induced meningitis on January 24, 1920, and it was only after his death that his work and life became widely known.
The exhibition is subtitled “The Legend of Montparnasse,” a holistic look at the artist’s artistic life as recorded in the legend of Montparnasse in Paris, the center of avant-garde art. The works were organized by Modigliani’s life cycle, with portraits dominating the show. The works on display were divided into seven themes: Paul Alexandre, Portraits of Men, Columns of Women, Portraits of Women, Nudes, Works on Paper, and Modigliani and Moise Kiesling. Of the seven themes, the most familiar are portraits, with ‘Portrait of a Man’ being mainly early work, and during a period of economic hardship, the artist modeled his paintings after people he interacted with at the time: painters, painters and collectors he worked with.
In the Portraits of Women, the models are often people from his life, and the docent explains that many of the works are centered around the artist’s wife, Lunya Chekowska, an acquaintance, who was a model who appealed to his sensibilities. The portrait of Modigliani’s wife, Jeanne, is particularly poignant and moving because we know their love story. His love for Jeanne was his artistic inspiration, which is evident throughout his work.
His nudes were an unexpected encounter for me. I had only known him as a sculptor, so I didn’t think of him as a painter who painted nudes. His nudes were painted in his later years, when he was more economically stable, and were criticized at the time as being quite risqué, but today they are appreciated for their boldness and artistic innovation. In particular, the “mysterious and deadly” quality of these works has been described as very apt.
Modigliani’s work is divided into a pre- and post-sculptural period, in which he followed the prevailing pictorial styles of the time, while in the post-sculptural period he perfected his signature style, characterized by elongated faces and simplified forms. Through his portraits, he seems to have sought to express not only the outward appearance of his subjects, but also their inner emotions and souls. His portraits are characterized by long faces, long necks, pupil-less eyes, and cylindrical figures. Although the exhibition notes that there is a difference between his early and later painting styles, I didn’t notice much of a difference.
Most of the portraits retain his characteristic features, with the occasional pupil. The paintings with pupils felt relatively familiar and comfortable, and they gave me a glimpse into the artist’s various endeavors. However, I always wondered why he didn’t paint pupils, and this exhibition answers that question. Modigliani once said

“When I know your soul, I will paint your pupils.”

This phrase gives us a glimpse into the deep philosophy behind his paintings: he attached great importance to the rapport with his models, and sought to capture not only their appearance but also their soul. In this sense, he seems to have been an artist who wanted to explore the depths of human relationships more than anyone else. Notably, unlike his portraits, which were mostly of acquaintances, the nudes of professional models in this exhibition all have their eyes painted on. This reflects his intention to exclude private exchanges of emotion, and I felt that this distinguished him from other painters who tried to clearly demarcate their relationship with their models.
Reading this passage made me look back at his paintings again. Did he not find a soul in his models? Had he not had enough time to connect with them yet? I asked myself these questions. If Modigliani had lived longer, would his paintings have more eyes? I also wondered if Modigliani had lived longer.
I realize that I still don’t have the basics to appreciate paintings. However, looking at the painting made me think about what the artist was thinking when he painted it, and whether the emotion I feel is what he intended. I don’t necessarily feel the way the artist wanted me to feel, but if I can understand the meaning he was trying to convey, I feel a certain satisfaction. I promise myself that whenever I have this opportunity in the future, I will try to appreciate each artwork with respect.