Amedeo Clemente Modigliani: July 12, 1884 - January 24, 1920

He was born in Italy; an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. In 1906, Modigliani moved to Paris, then the focal point of the avant-garde. He settled in a commune in Montmartre. He soon made efforts to assume the guise of the bohemian artist; in his brown corduroys, scarlet scarf and large black hat.

Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form. Famous for his elongated portraits and lush nudes, Amedeo Modigliani's interest in African masks and sculpture is evident in the treatment of his models' faces - flat and mask-like, with almond eyes and twisted features. His graceful figurative distortions and large flat areas of color were strongly influenced by Cezanne.

Modigliani died in Paris, on January 24, 1920, of tubercular meningitis, at age 35. There was an enormous funeral, attended by many from the artistic communities in Montmartre and Montparnasse. His epitaph reads: "Struck down by Death at the moment of glory." Since his death, his reputation has soared. In November 2010, a painting of a nude by Modigliani, part of a series of nudes he created around 1917, sold for more than $68.9m at an auction in New York—a record for the artist's work. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

Modigliani