Dr Paul Alexandre, Paris (acquis de l'artiste avant 1914)
Par descendance au propriétaire actuel

Venise, Palazzo Grassi; Londres, The Royal Academy of Arts (exposition itinérante passant également par Cologne, Madrid, New York, Florence, Montréal & Rouen), Modigliani inconnu : Dessins de la Collection Paul Alexandre, 1993-96, no. 68, reproduit p. 228

Osvaldo Patani, Amedeo Modigliani, Catalogo Generale, Disegni 1906-1920 con i disegni provenienti dalla collezione Paul Alexandre (1906-1914), Milan, 1994, no. 863, reproduit p. 373

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down. The sheet is floating in the mount. The sheet is hinged to the mount at the two top corners. There are artist's pinholes in the uper corners: two in the upper left corner and one in the upper right corner. Being a sheet from a sketchbook, the right edge is perforated. There are a few handling marks int he upper left section (probably from the time of the artist). Apart from two flattened creases in the lower right corner and one in the lower left corner, and some light generalised time-staining, this work is in good original condition.
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bears the Paul Alexandre stamp 'DR P A 16,7' (lower right), black crayon on paper. Executed circa 1911-12.

Fig. 1  Amedeo Modigliani, Cariatide, huile et crayon sur carton, vers 1911-12, Collection particulière (vente : Sotheby's, Londres, 8𝔍 février 𝓀2005, lot 38(I))

Fig. 2  Amedeo Modiglani, Nu debout, 1912-13, pierre, Australian National Gallery, Canberra

Fig. 3  Bouddha, art indien du V♏Ième siècle provenant de👍 Sarnath

"Les plus puissants dessins de Modigliani sont dessins de sculpteur" (François Bergot, "L'Ange au visage grave", in Noël Alexandre, Modigliani inconnu, Dessins de la Collection Paul Alexandre, Bruges, 1993, p. 8). C'est sans doute dans ses des🎃sins de cariatides ou ceux d🌼e ses têtes sculpturales que la prédilection de Modigliani pour la sculpture est la plus manifeste.

Femme idéale - colonne ou pilastre - destinée à supporter l'entablement de son édifice, la cariatide, par essence vouée à la tri-dimension, fascine et séduit Modigliani qui en fait le sujet de nombreux dessins tel que Femme nue, de face. Dans ses cariatides, Modigliani exprime, selon Noël Alexandre,  "la plus grande liberté", tout en recherchant une certaine "austérité géométrique et sculpturale", pour "atteindre la plénitude de son style comme dans ses plus beaux dessins de théâtre, ou l'artifice se mêle au naturel, la sensualité à l'hiératisme et l'audace à la grâce" (Noël Alexandre, op. cit., p. 189).

Emerveillé par l'art khmer, océanien et africain qu'il découvre en compagnie de Paul Alexandre au musée du Trocadéro en 1910, Modigliani glisse dans ce dessin de cariatide de subtiles allusions graphiques à ces nouvelles découvertes riches d'inspiration. Comme le souligne Noël Alexandre, "l'utilisation subtile des stylisations et simplification des masques nègres ainsi que des tatouages, boucles d'oreille et colliers africains exalte la majesté et la préciosité de ces êtres de beauté qui expriment le culte très personnel que Modigliani vouait à la féminité" (Noël Alexandre, op. cit., p. 189).

 

"Undoubtedly, Modigliani's most powerful drawings are the drawings of a sculptor" (François Bergot, "L'Ange au visage grave", in Noël Alexandre, Modigliani inconnu, Dessins🌄 de la Collection Paul Alexandre, Bruges, 1993, p. 8).  It is without doubt in his drawings of caryatids or sculptural heads that Modigliani's predilection for sculpture is most evident.

 

An idealised woman - column or pillar – destined to support the structure of a building, the caryatid, by definition three-dimensional, fascinated and enraptured Modigliani who devoted several drawings to the subject, such as Femme nue, de face.  According to Noël Alexandre, Modigliani expresses "the greatest freedom" in his caryatids, all the while seeking a certain "geometric and sculptural austerity" in order to "achieve a fullness of style as in his most beautiful theatre drawings, where artifice is merged with the natural, sensuality with hieratic restraint, and audacity with grace" (Noël Alexandre, op. cit., p. 189).

 

Mesmerised by the Khmer, Oceanic and African art that he encountered with Paul Alexandre at the Musée du Trocadero in 1910, Modigliani includes subtle visual allusions to these richly inspiring new discoveries in this drawing of a caryatid.  As Noël Alexandre points out, "the subtle use of the stylization and simplification derived from African masks, tattoos, earrings and necklaces intensifies the majestic elegance of these beautiful creatures who epitomize the highly personal devotion that Modigliani showed to femininity" (Noël Alexandre, op. cit., p. 189).