The Essence of the Artist Collaged
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AMEDEO MODIGLIANI
1884 - 1920 Italian
The number of works this young man created in such a short length of time is amazing, and when one takes into account the fact that he was sick or drunk or both most of the time, it is truly staggering. Add to this the fact that he was very poor; when he decided to sculpt he pilfered stone from the huge piles at building sites created by a massive building boom going on in Paris. Dust created by the work played havoc with his lungs, diseased with tuberculosis, so sculpting lasted only abut two years.
Many of Modigliani’s numerous portraits are outlined, usually with bistre - a water soluble brownish /ocher pigment made from charred wood that was applied as an ink or simply drawn with as a crayon. For my portrait of him I chose not to project an outline but to concentrate on the clean lines that say “Modigliani”; my point of reference is a self portrait he drew in pencil in 1918. And of course the long neck, chiseled nose and almond eyes that don’t seem to have pupils are his; all elements that might have been borrowed from African masks that were then making appearances among the artists in Paris.
He had his bad moments when he drank, and seemed to earn his nickname, Modi, in French maudit translates as cursed or damned. But he also had lovely moments - writing poetry such as: “Beauty is a fruit of the noblest strivings of the soul.”
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About the Book
This is an irreverent look at the art that will amuse, inform and perhaps whet the reader’s appetite for a closer acquaintance with the subjects. It is an art/art history/how-to-collage book. The character, the essence, of individual artists is featured and captured in images created entirely by the author with colored papers, from their eyelashes to their signature. The artists included in this book are for the most part typically found in traditional Art History books; however some are either little known or not deemed “fine” artists, but have special meaning for this artist and the reasons are described.
A brief biography of each includes the life and death dates, nationality, and interesting and sometimes little known facts of the subject art. Interspersed in the text are explanations of how or why a particular image was created; whether to emphasize a method employed, a specific area, a facet of the person, or simply the kind of paper or adhesive that was used.
Besides learning a little of the lives of artists that are featured, readers will acquire a thumbnail sketch of the craft of collage or even the art of portraiture by studying the artist whose essence was reflected, and maybe pique their interest to conduct a more in-depth investigation on their own.
About the Author
Interest in writing began early manifesting itself as plays I created for playmates, then Church and school groups and later as a journalism student, articles for The Monticello, my hometown high school newspaper in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
After moving to
My work has been shown at the