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Title details for Modigliani by Jeffrey Meyers - Available

Modigliani

A Life

by Jeffrey Meyers
ebook
2 of 2 copies available
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2 of 2 copies available

A biographer explores the artist's tragic life, and transcendent work, in early twentieth-century Paris—"a vibrant portrait of a deeply unhappy man" (Publishers Weekly).

In 1920, at the age of thirty-five, Amedeo Modigliani died in poverty and neglect in Paris, much like a figure out of La Bohéme. His life had been as dramatic as his death. An Italian Jew from a bourgeois family, "Modi" had a weakness for drink, hashish, and the many women—including the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova—who were drawn to his good looks. His painting thrived on chaos, but his bohemian lifestyle, combined with a youthful case of tuberculosis, eventually took a fatal toll.

His friends included Picasso, Utrillo, Soutine, and other important artists of his day, yet his own work stood apart, generating little interest while he lived. Today's art world, however, acknowledges him as a master whose limited oeuvre—sculptures, portraits, and some of the most appealing nudes in the whole of modern art—cannot satisfy collectors' demand.

With a lively but judicious hand, biographer Jeffrey Meyers sketches Modigliani and the art he produced, illuminating not only this little-known figure but also the painters, writers, lovers, and others who inhabited early twentieth-century Paris with him.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 19, 2014

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780544391215

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780544391215
      • File size: 375 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 2, 2006
      In this personality-driven new biography, Meyers (Katherine Mansfield
      ; Hemingway
      ; D.H. Lawrence
      ; etc.) turns his discerning eye to an artist whose "painting thrived on chaos," the French-Italian-Jewish bohemian Amedeo Modigliani. A contemporary of Picasso who detested cubism, "Modi," as he was known to his friends, was stricken with tuberculosis at 16. And while the incurable lung disease eventually led to his death at age 35, his rowdy and reckless lifestyle—replete with women, drugs and drink—surely contributed as well. Modigliani's tumultuous behavior, Meyers posits, was inextricably tied to his work. Meyers presents clear readings of Modigliani's paintings and sculptures, spelling out the influence of art nouveau, Lautrec, stylized African sculpture and mannerism on the artist's flat, vividly colored style. He also knowledgeably traces Modi's self-destructive rise from philosophy-reading child to posthumous star. Though Meyers tends to lapse into lengthy mini-biographies every time a new acquaintance of the artist's is introduced (an interlude about Modigliani's ex-lover Beatrice Hastings, for example, segues into a discussion of Hastings's ex-lover Katherine Mansfield) and frequently repeats his thesis (Modigliani was self-destructive!), he has painted a vibrant portrait of a deeply unhappy man.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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