July 25, 2023

The Modigliani Initiative
at One Year:

Research, Collaboration, Legacy

Research

While it has only been one year since we publicly launched The Modigliani Initiative, we have already helped to lift the veil on various previously unsolved Modigliani mysteries. If you missed any essays based on our in-depth research and published in the Spotlight and Modigliani Reconsidered sections of our website, we invite you to see what we have discovered:

Spotlight

• Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell: An introduction to the enterprising young English brothers who organized an important exhibition in London in 1919.

• Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell, Part 2: A follow-up story in which we attempt to identify the Modigliani portrait in the Sitwells’ collection.

• Marie Beerbohm: Was she the young, red-haired woman that Modigliani portrayed three times?

• Modigliani on the Move: An essay by Dr. David M. Challis, our first guest author, analyzes Modigliani’s Interwar market.

• How Do You Solve a Problem Like Modigliani?: Our thoughts on the complicated issue of Modigliani authentications.

• Modigliani at the Galerie Paul Guillaume: A short overview of the relationship between the artist and one of his first dealers.

Modigliani Reconsidered

• Modigliani’s First Solo Exhibition: Our novel theory about how the paintings shown in the artist’s only lifetime solo exhibition might be identified.

• Reconsidering a Portrait Not Included in Ceroni: Newly discovered evidence linking a portrait not included in Ceroni’s catalogue to events during the artist’s lifetime, a major factor in plausibly attributing the work to Modigliani.

Collaboration

Museums

We are grateful to the curators, conservators, registrars, provenance researchers, and collections managers at the following institutions who have generously shared information about the Modigliani paintings and drawings in their collections. Our research has been informed in large part by what we have learned from these works.

Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
Art Institute of Chicago
Boca Raton Museum of Art
Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo
Cincinnati Art Museum
Evergreen House Foundation, John Hopkins University Museums, Baltimore
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Honolulu Museum of Art
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Kunstmuseum Bern
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Musée Angladon, Avignon
Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva
Musée Grenoble, France
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase
Pola Museum of Art, Kanagawa, Japan
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
San Diego Museum of Art
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

Scholars

Because of Modigliani’s international reputation, we rely on the generosity of scholars, located worldwide, who graciously share their advice, time, and research with us. A special thanks to:

Julia Armstrong-Totten, Los Angeles
Clémence Barbé, Paris
Christine Beevers, Derbyshire, England
Christina Brandberg, Stockholm
David M. Challis, Melbourne
Alice Craigie, Washington, D.C.
Simon Crameri, Riehen, Switzerland
Francisco Gerardo Garcia Oria, Madrid
Samantha Jones, London
Anna McCormick-Goodhart, New York and London
Robert Oliva, Montreux
Agnès Sevestre-Barbé, Paris
Didier Schulmann, Paris
Alessandro De Stefani, Monza, Italy
Jesper Svenningsen, Copenhagen
Mary Thompson, New York

Legacy

The stewardship of Modigliani’s legacy depends on a concerted effort by scholars across disciplines, who believe in transparent dialogue as novel research and ideas are brought to light. The Modigliani Initiative was founded to serve as a platform for new scholarship and peer review. As we gather information and add it to our continuously updated Database, our goal is to ensure a lasting legacy for the artist, and to help construct a much-needed consensus on Modigliani’s complete oeuvre.

Please help us spread the word about The Modigliani Initiative. We are grateful for your support.
Our Newsletter will resume in September. Wishing you a wonderful summer!

Leslie Koot I Julie Martin I Julia May Boddewyn

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