Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor; born in 1884 and died in Paris in 1920. Modigliani studied in Florence and Venice, before settling in Paris on 24 January 1906. Between 1910 and 1913 he focused on sculpture, but was forced to give this up due to ill health. His portraits are characterised by an elongated neck and head, simplified features with a long raised ridge running alone the nose.
In his review of the 2006 Modigiliani exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, art critic Adrian Searle says: "Looking closely at his nudes, there is little evidence of adjustment, much less radical reworking. What goes down onto the canvas stays, by and large, where it is put."
Searle also gives an intriguing snippet of art history: "Picasso painted over one canvas he bought from Modigliani, although he bought another that he kept until his death."
