The History & Analysis Of Amedeo Modigliani’S Series Of "Heads"
Amedeo Modigliani’s series of Heads was first exhibited at the Salon d’Automne, Paris, 1912 as a ‘decorative ensemble’ of 7 slightly varying limestone sculptures focusing around a common theme. This is one of the more refined heads in the ensemble, the stone is left smoother and the surface is more linear. The ‘Tate Head’ is carved directly from a single block of limestone, 88cm in length, and represents a sensuous, genderless face expressed – as with much of Modigliani’s works - through the prism and power of elongation. In the round, the Head conveys an abiding impression of calm, albeit slightly pensive serenity, underpinned by its elongated facial features, almond eyes, and swan-like neck.
The razor-shaped nose both dominates the sculpture acting as the focal point and frames the face by providing a vertical, centre-line of symmetry which attracts and draws in the viewer. Either side of the nose, protruding, tilted eyes with raised eyebrows suggest some surprise from an otherwise passive expression. Modigliani’s interest in Geometry is visible through his use of organic forms; circular eyes with the form repeated in the arcs of the eyebrows, the triangluar mouth, the long vertical lines of the neck and nose and elliptical shaped head. These organic forms link back to the idea of Archaic simplicity whereby the simplifed forms are used to resonate the natural beauty of the subject matter.
Moreover by reducing the complexity and need for illusionistic reality the artist is able to provoke its viewer with an overall feeling rather than a depection of beauty with sculptor Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973) having said that “his art was an art of personal feeling”. The monolithic block of limestone (thought to be stolen from the building site Haussmann’s renovation of Montparnasse) has been highly.
Upon direct eye contact with the sculpture its appears flat with little to no depth and yet in the round one realises the scope of the artwork. The lines begin to unfold as the chin protrudes outwards into the viewers space and the sides of the eyes appear to have kholr reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian relief paintings. This plays with the idea of 3 diamentionality by using very linear front and side profiles and provoking an illusionistic response from the viewer as the head begins to permeate its envirnoment from the different angles viewed.
Stylistically the sculpture seems to encompass a range of different influences, incorporating blends of tribal African, ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian, and Asian influences yet the style is distinctly his own. Perhaps the confluence of geographic styles should not be surprising. With colonial expansion across much of the world - and the subsequent import of tribal and ethnic influences from Asia, the Middle East and particularly Africa – European culture became immensely enriched by the simultaneous contributions of artistic works and their commensurate global philosophies.
Perhaps the earliest recognisable influence is the graceful and elongated contours of Egyptian busts, in particular the Nerfirtiti bust, by Thutmose, 1345 BC. The arc and swan-like slope of the neck speak to both the Head and Modigliani’s artistic works; while the eyes in the Head also appear to have kholr, reminiscent of Nerfiretiti and even more ancient Egyptian relief paintings.
Modigliani was first introduced to African Scultpure or ‘L’art négre’ by the art dealer Joseph Brummer and in the personal collection of painter Frank Burty-Haviland. Modigiliani was taken with these tribal masks favouring the Baule masks of the Ivory Coast. While the similarites of these masks and the head are clear in their schematic facial features it should be noted that Modiglani channels these influences through his European education.
Having been exposed to the early Christian works of Botticelli and 14th-15th Century Medieval Sinnainse, Modigiliani is able to harness the quiet sanctity and sensuous emotion of the human form. It is also evident that Modigliani was influenced by the anthropomorphic sculptures of the Cycladic period c.3200–c.1050 BC, especially in the treatment of the elongated nose and the planar features of the face. The contours of the sculptures are clean with the absence of ornamentation expressing the most basic forms of a human thus giving us enough clues to be able to recognise the object as being human.
