News from the Modigliani Initiative

June 27, 2023

Spotlight
”Peintres d’Aujourd’hui”:
Modigliani at the Galerie Paul Guillaume

Portrait of Paul Guillaume, 1916
Oil on canvas, 31 7/8 x 21 1/4 in. (81 x 54 cm)
Museo del Novecento, Milan

Our latest Spotlight story follows the trajectory of the relationship between Modigliani and the up-and-coming art dealer Paul Guillaume. The dealer took credit for encouraging Modigliani to give up sculpture and focus on painting sometime in late 1914. Though he supported the artist for over a year—between 1915 and 1916—and acquired a number of paintings during this time, Guillaume never organized a solo exhibition for the artist. After a two-year hiatus, Guillaume’s renewed interest in Modigliani’s work in late 1918 led the dealer to include him in Peintres d’aujourd’hui, an ambitious exhibition of paintings by those Guillaume considered to be the leading contemporary artists. Paul Guillaume went on to champion Modigliani after the artist’s death in January 1920. Learn more about this key artist–dealer relationship in our latest essay here.

Auction News

On June 6, La Bourguignonne, a painting not included in Ambrogio Ceroni’s catalogue of Modigliani’s work, was offered for sale at Hôtel Drouot, Paris. While it had a documented early link to the well-known Modigliani collector Roger Dutilleul, and was accompanied by a certificate signed by Marc Restellini on March 19, 2001, the work failed to sell.
For a discussion on the complicated issues involved in paintings not included in Ceroni’s catalogue, see our March Spotlight essay here.

La Bourguignonne, 1918
Oil on canvas, 21.6 x 14.9 in. (55 x 38 cm)
Unpublished estimate: 6–8MM euros; Bought in. See auction details here.

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

Currently, and in the coming months, there are wonderful and varied opportunities to see Modigliani’s artwork and to learn more about the artist and his circle. The focus of three exhibitions ranges from a collection started in the 1940s by Henry and Rose Pearlman of New York; poetry and artwork by Modigliani’s friends and associates centered around the Swiss-born poet Blaise Cendrars; and an exploration of the links between Modigliani and his art dealer Paul Guillaume within the Parisian artistic and literary context of the 1910s, also showcasing many of the artist’s works that passed through Guillaume’s hands.

For more details and information see the links below:

Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Pearlman Foundation
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
through September 17, 2023

Jean Cocteau, 1916
The Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation, on long-term loan to the Princeton University Art Museum

Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961): Poetry is Everything
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
through September 24, 2023

Blaise Cendrars, c. 1916–17
Private collection

Amedeo Modigliani. A Painter and His Dealer
[Paul Guillaume]
L’Orangerie, Paris
September 20, 2023–January 15, 2024

Paul Guillaume, Novo Pilota, 1915
Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

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Leslie Koot I Julie Martin I Julia May Boddewyn

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Spotlight”Peintres d’Aujourd’hui”: Modigliani at the Galerie Paul Guillaume

Auction News

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

The Modigliani Initiative

Spotlight
”Peintres d’Aujourd’hui”:
Modigliani at the Galerie Paul Guillaume