Description
The painting Seated Nude on a Divan by Amedeo Modigliani is famous for several interesting reasons. Firstly, the model in the painting was a young woman named Jeanne Hébuterne, who was Modigliani's lover and became his muse. Tragically, Hébuterne committed suicide two days after Modigliani's death, at the age of 21, which has added an emotional element to the work.
Seated Nude on a Divan was painted in 1917. It depicts a woman sensually looking at the viewer, her naked body covered by a piece of white cloth. The use of rich reds and pinks gives his work a warm and sumptuous feeling, inviting us to this intimate moment captured on the canvas.
Additionally, the painting is an excellent example of Modigliani's characteristic style, characterized by the simplification of forms and elegant, curved lines. In this particular work, the artist makes use of his distinctive "elongated neck," which has become a hallmark of his portraits.
The painting has also had an interesting history in terms of its financial value. In 2018, the work was auctioned by Sotheby's in New York and sold for more than 157 million dollars, making it the fourth most expensive painting ever auctioned in history.
Another interesting detail about the painting "Seated Nude on a Divan" is that it was part of a series of nudes that Modigliani painted in the 1910s in Paris. At that time, the depiction of the nude was somewhat controversial, and Modigliani was one of the artists who challenged the social and artistic conventions of the time by creating these works.
In fact, Modigliani's series of nudes were so provocative that in 1917, his exhibition at the Berthe Weill gallery was closed by the police for being considered indecent. However, despite the censorship, Modigliani's work has been very influential in the history of art, and his nudes are considered some of the most iconic pieces of the modernist movement.
Seated Nude on a Divan ranks no. 53 in the list of paintings famous