Modigliani sculptor

If we exclude the 1911 exhibition in the Parisian studio of the Portuguese painter Amadeo de Souza Cardoso and the one, still in Paris, at the 1912 Salon d’Automne, while Modigliani was still alive, this is the first exhibition totally dedicated to his sculptural work.
His painting has great success every time it appears while until today sculpture seems to have been only for the specialists. This part of his work seems to have less interest for the general public, perhaps also due to the small number of works carried out by the young artist from Livorno. The Milanese critic, Ambrogio Ceroni, who published the first documented catalogue regarding Modigliani’s sculpture in 1965, described and documented twenty-five sculptures, all of a quite good size. A small number, if compared to that of his paintings; however, twenty-five stone sculptures, carried out with the technique of direct carving on stone, not therefore according to the fashion of that time with modelling or casts, must be considered as really important, even more so because Modigliani dedicated at the most two years or just a little longer to this particular work. This book investigates the philological and stylistic problems, those concerning the authenticity and cultural context which have always characterised the history of his activity as a sculptor. In particular, some questions are at the centre of this research.

Did Modigliani really only carry out twenty-five sculptures? What models and inspirations were the sources for his creativity? Was there a reason why he abandoned sculpture, that he himself defined as his great passion? What relationship is there between his sculptures and his painting activity before and after his sculpting period?
Thanks to the retrieval of some unpublished or little known historical documents, to the study of sure sources, to the research of new documented relationships within the world of the sculptors who lived or exhibited in Paris during the first fifteen years of the last century, to the precise stylistic comparison of the many sources and tribal and oriental models, the legend of Modigliani sculptor leaves room for a linear account, which is of great interest and with important new findings.

Rovereto, December 2010 - March 2011