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ROTHERMEL • NORTHINGTON

IMPRESSIONS OF HOME

53 Rue du Montparnasse
lacquer and leaf on wood with mirrors
48 H x 23 1/2 W

Ameddeo Modiglini came to Paris in 1906. "In those brief years separating arrival and departure, Paris boiled in creative fermentation to which the young artist added his considerable bit even as it engulfed and eventually destroyed him" (B.Schiff, Smithsonian, Jan. '94) Modigliani frequently changed his address, and in 1909 he came to live in Monparnasse. During this period of exclusive concentration on sculptural forms, he did this rendering of a "Caryatid" in 1910. "Under the prexext of carrying an-invisible-burden, the body and it's component parts are forced in specific directions, generating a complex rhythm of horizontals, verticals, diagonals and curves. The Artist has chosen his theme soley for the sake of this formal structure."(W.Schmalenbach, Amedeo Modigliani)