Amedeo Modigliani

Dr Paul Alexandre, Paris (acquired from the artist)
Thence by descent

Venice, Palazzo Grassi; London, The Royal Academy of Arts (travelling exhibition also passing through Cologne, Madrid, Bruges, Tokyo, Luxembourg, New York, Montreal & Rouen), Modigliani inconnu : Dessins de la Collection Paul Alexandre, 1993-96, no. 281

Noël Alexandre, Modigliani inconnu, Témoignages, documents et dessins inédits de l'ancienne collection de Paul Alexandre, Paris, 1993, no. 281, illustrated pl. 312, p. 333
Osvaldo Patani, Amedeo Modigliani, Catalogo Generale, Disegni 1906-1920 con i disegni provenienti dalla collezione Paul Alexandre (1906-1914), Milan, 1994, no. 622, illustrated p. 314

Executed on thin wove paper, not laid down, floating in the mount, fixed at the upper corners. There is a perforated line running vertically 1cm from the left edge and there are 5 tiny nicks to this edge of the sheet. There is a diagonal flattened crease running from the upper left to the lower right and two further flattened creases in the upper right corner. There are smudges inherent to the artistic process and some minuscule specks of possible foxing. Apart from some time staining and mild creasing, this work is in overall good condition.
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INTRODUCTION TO LOTS 6 - 12

This magnificent group of seven drawings by Amedeo Modigliani from the collection of Doctor Paul Alexandre, who was virtually the artist’s only patron until the eve of the First World War, offers a superb insight into the diversity and outstanding quality of the works in this collection. From sensually curvaceous nudes to caryatid portraits with architectural forms to hieratic faces with almond-shaped eyes, this fine ensemble underlines the decisive role the doctor played in the young artist’s career.

The meeting of the two men in 1907 marked the beginning of a long and strong friendship, during which they saw each other almost daily.  “It was Doucet who brought him to the Delta for the first time […] Doucet had met him on Rue Saint-Vincent at Frédéric’s place ‘Au Lapin Agile’, that at the time was only frequented by the poor, by poets and artists … Modigliani told Doucet that he had been evicted from his small studio on Place Jean-Baptiste Clément and didn’t know where to go … Doucet suggested he come to the Delta where he could stay if he wished, and where he could store his belongings. This is how my friendship with Modigliani began. I was 26, he was 23 and my brother Jean was 21.” (Paul Alexandre, cité in. Modigliani inconnu, p. 53-54). 

A friend and patron of the artist, Doctor Alexandre was above all a great admirer of Modigliani’s work. “I was instantly struck by his extraordinary talent and I wanted to do something for him. I bought his drawings and canvases, but I was his only buyer and I wasn’t rich. I introduced him to my family. He already had, ingrained in him, the certainty of his own worth. He knew that he was a ground-breaker and not an imitator, but so far he had no commissions. I asked him to paint a portrait of my father, my brother Jean and several of myself” (Paul Alexandre, quoted in Noël Alexandre, Modigliani inconnu, Paris, 1993, p. 59). During the eight years of their friendship, until his conscription in 1914, Paul Alexandre acquired roughly 500 and a dozen canvases by the artist. In 1918, when the war that had separated them came to an end, Modigliani had contracted tuberculosis and his health was deteriorating. He would die on 24th January 1920, without ever seeing Paul Alexandre again.