Between 1911 and 1913, both architecture and sculpture guided Amedeo Modigliani’s exploration of simplified forms and his pursuit of balance. His sculptural ambitions entailed the creation of his iconic Female Heads and Caryatids, via which he reinterpreted the elongated, oval-shaped forms and simplified features of both Khmer and African art. The sculptures of the Bete people from the Ivory Coast (fig. 1) especially echo the low-key primitivism of Modigliani. Created during a defining phase in Modigliani’s career, our sheet belongs to a series of pivotal drawings which testified to the artist’s intensive research over his sculpted corpus– Female Heads and Caryatids. A closely related drawing – probably depicting the same figure in profile – is held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (fig. 2).
Our Sculptural Head has been exhibited on numerous occasions, including at exhibitions held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo, the Livorno City Museum,and at the Albertina in Vienna. It was originally acquired directly by Paul Alexandre from Modigliani.A close friend and patron of the artist, Alexandre met Modigliani in 1907 while completing his medical internship at the Lariboisière Hospital. The two men formed an immediate bond that lasted until August1914, when Alexandre was called to the front lines after being mobilised for the war. During those seven years, Alexandre became Modigliani’s patron and sole buyer, providing the painter with financial stability and shielding him from hardship. Remarkable for its quality, scope, and comprehensiveness, Paul Alexandre’s collection offers a unique insight into the formative period of the artist’s life.
