Amedeo Modigliani - Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz - Google Art Project

''Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz'' is a 1916 oil on canvas painting by

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, a ...

. It depicts Modigliani's friend, the sculptor

Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Cubism, Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, dominated by a synthetic sty ...

, standing alongside his seated wife Berthe. Modigliani and Lipchitz had each moved to France at a young age, were both from Jewish backgrounds, and became close friends who frequented the same artistic circles in Paris.Norton Simon Museum
/ref> Despite their commonalities, there were marked differences: Lipchitz exemplified artistic industriousness while Modigliani was given to bohemian dissolution.A Study in Irony: Modigliani's ''Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz''
/ref> Before painting ''Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz'' Modigliani made a series of preparatory drawings, of which five survive: two of Lipchitz, two of Berthe, and one of them together in the resolved composition. Lipchitz described the painting's development years later: Lipchitz was uncomfortable accepting the painting for merely ten francs, and made excuses in order for Modigliani to continue working on the portrait. "You know", I said, "we sculptors like more substance." "Well," he answered, "if you want me to spoil it, I can continue."Lipchitz, 16 The portrait occupied Modigliani for nearly two weeks, "probably the longest time he ever worked on one painting."Lipchitz, 16

One of only two double portraits painted by Modigliani, ''Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz'' has been noted for its complex and enigmatic study of contrasting personalities. Lipchitz is shown with his wife Berthe Kitrosser, a Russian poet, in their Paris apartment that had previously been the home of the sculptor

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of modernism, ...

. Posed in front of an abstracted architectural interior, Lipchitz is handsomely dressed, and stands casually with one hand on Berthe's shoulder. Their mask-like faces have encouraged varied readings; Berthe's gentle sensuality, her large eyes and lips and graceful neck, have been seen to offer a striking contrast to Lipchitz's self-pride, his small eyes and mouth and "wickedly twisted nose" combining to satirical effect. For art historian and curator Mason Klein, Berthe's face is bland and bourgeois, her frilly collar and pert nose suggesting haughtiness, while Lipchitz stands above her, domineering and protective. Modigliani biographer Werner Schmalenbach compared ''Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz'' to the artist's ''Bride and Groom'' of 1915, and noted the development away from a purely formal depiction of 'types' to a greater interest in the characterization of individuals.Schmalenbach, 39 This difference in the two works is consistent with an evolution in Modigliani's drawing and painting toward increased refinement.Schmalenbach, 39 After Modigliani died in 1920 Lipchitz crafted his

death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a pregnant belly, a foss ...

, making twelve plaster molds for Modigliani's friends and family.Lipchitz, 20 Soon thereafter Lipchitz traded the painting to his dealer in exchange for the return of sculptures "which I no longer felt were representative."Lipchitz, 16 The painting was purchased in 1922, and entered the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

in 1926 as part of the Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection.

Notes

References

* Klein, Mason, et al. ''Modigliani: Beyond the Myth''. New York, 2004. The Jewish Museum. * Lipchitz, Jacques. ''Amedeo Modigliani''. Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1952 * Mann, Carol. ''Modigliani''. New York, 1980. Thames and Hudson, Inc. * Schmalenbach, Werner. ''Amedeo Modigliani: Paintings, sculptures, drawings''. Munich, 1990. Prestel-Verlag.
A Study in Irony: Modigliani's ''Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz'' Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 1986

Death Mask of Amedeo Modigliani, Norton Simon Museum
* Jacques Lipchitz discusses this work in an interview. Se
segment 157
"Ask Jacques Lipchitz a Question: Jacques Lipchitz interviews during the summers of 1970–1972", Bruce W. Bassett, interviewer and video producer. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem donated by Hanno D. Mott, New York for the family of Jacques Lipchitz. Interactive online version published 2010. Republished in 2021.

External links

Art Institute of Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz Paintings by Amedeo Modigliani 1916 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago