Amedeo MODIGLIANI (1884-1920) [ ITALY ] - Lot 5

Amedeo MODIGLIANI (1884-1920) [ ITALY ] Reclining nude Pencil on paper. Signed Modigliani lower left. 30.7 x 48.6 cm (sheet size) 28.5 x 45 cm (view size) Label on the back of the framing mount: "World House Galeries corp. 987 Madison Avenue New York, n°57I5" on the back of the mounting. (Insolation of edges and rubbing, sheet glued at all four corners). Despite the lightness of the line, our drawing shows Modigliani's virtuosity as a draughtsman. His fine pencil line is free, supple and elegant. There's a sense of communion between the draftsman and the model, but the latter reclining on a sofa is in no way erotically provocative: the scene is not naturalistic, but has something unreal and deeply poetic about it. Note that a drawing of Jeanne Hébuterne has the same hairstyle "à la chien" (Lanthemann 889).