Paul Guillaume
Artist: Amedeo Modigliani (Italian, 1884-1920)
Date: 1915
Dimensions:
Painting: 29 1/2 × 20 1/2 in. (74.9 × 52.1 cm)
Frame: 42 × 32 1/2 × 2 in. (106.7 × 82.6 × 5.1 cm)
Medium: oil on board
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy
Object number: 1951.382
Label Text:In 1914, through his friend the poet Max Jacob, Amedeo Modigliani met the Parisian art dealer and writer Paul Guillaume (1891–1939). Guillaume specialized in African art and contemporary avant-garde artists, such as Picasso and Matisse. He became one of Modigliani’s earliest supporters and his dealer. From 1914 to 1916, Modigliani executed four portraits in oil and several drawings of Guillaume.
In this painting made in September of 1915, Modigliani captured the young art dealer at age 23, seated in his library. As in his other portraits he reduces the features to their essentials and elongates the form. By carefully selecting and emphasizing a few details, Modigliani provided clues to Guillaume’s personality. A bookshelf and piano in the background hint at intellect and culture. The small, pursed lips and severely trimmed mustache seem petulant. Guillaume’s almond-shaped eyes have been painted to reveal no pupils or irises—reducing his features to the impenetrable stylization of a mask (like the African masks Guillaume admired).
In this painting made in September of 1915, Modigliani captured the young art dealer at age 23, seated in his library. As in his other portraits he reduces the features to their essentials and elongates the form. By carefully selecting and emphasizing a few details, Modigliani provided clues to Guillaume’s personality. A bookshelf and piano in the background hint at intellect and culture. The small, pursed lips and severely trimmed mustache seem petulant. Guillaume’s almond-shaped eyes have been painted to reveal no pupils or irises—reducing his features to the impenetrable stylization of a mask (like the African masks Guillaume admired).
Not on view
In Collection(s)