FEMME DE MILLIONS.

Amedeo Modigliani   "Reclining Nude"  or  "Nu couché" or "Femme de Millions"
Subtitle:  "200 Million Dollar"

On 10 November 2015 the news came out that a painting by Modigliani (Note 1) was sold by Christie's in New York for 170,4 million dollar.  The painting measures 60 by 90 centimeter.  It is sold to a chinese artcollector, Liu Yiqian, who tends to exhibit it in his museum in Shanghai.

(Image: Christie's  see note 2)
In an online article in the Guardian it is said that  "Amedeo Modigliani was high on hashish, wrecked by absinth, and desperately poor when he painted this hymne to lust in 1917-18." (note 3)  It was painted during World War I.

  This newsfact triggered something in me.  A kind of unbelieve about such a price for a work of art. And immediately I started to make my own "170,4 million of Artwork".  I used the image of Christie's as guide. A prepaired canvas large enough I had already standing ready.  I didn't took notice of the original size so I took a canvas of 85 x 115 centimeters. This canvas is a  little broader then the original so I decided to make the lower leg a tiny bit longer.

The colours I would used I had to do a little research for.  But understanding that Modigliani was poor  he might have been using only a few basic colours. (Like Picasso did in his Blue Period).

On internet I did a little research in other paintings by Modigliani and I could get an idea of how he painted.  I believe Modigliani painted it in a spontaneous moment  mainly in one flow.   The red blanket can be seen in other paintings as well.

The main colour in this painting is red. I used two types of red: cadmium red dark en cadmium red light. All colours are handmade. 

And after the latest fine-tuning my reclining Nude is ready.  I did some very small corrections mainly in darktones of the skin, some highlights on the skin, the face and the hair. Also by using glacé's.  Although my workimage was very poor I could get still a lot of information out of it..

Now only to find someone who pays 170 million dollar (or more because it is bigger then the original) for it.  I mean this as a joke. I liked making the painting..... and I signed it with my own name. I call it "Femme de Millions".  The original painting costed 170.4 million dollar.  The painting got a worldwide attention because of this price... And quoting Mr. Liu ".......Now, a chinese museum has a globally recognized masterpiece, and my fellow countrymen no longer have to leave the country to see a Western masterpiece....." (Note 4)  Also millions of people...

Here is the painting with the italian frame.

Who is the woman on the painting?
Probably the woman on the painting is Jeanne Hébuterne.  She was nineteen when they met in February 1917 and  "..........whose sweetness and modesty were noticed in the fancy artistic milieu of Montparnasse.  Among the damned Amedeo and delicate Jeanne was born a strong and deep love, intended as in a serial novel, to last until the death of both."  (Note 5)

(Image: Jeanne Hébuterne, 1918:  Note 6)





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NOTES

Note 1: Modigliani. 1884-1920. I give some information about him in reference to the painting.  He lived in Paris where the painting was made. He worked quite fast and a painting could be ready in 1 or 2 sessions.   In the time this painting was made the general opinion was that it was a kind of pornografy.  (wikipedia)

Note 2: Image.  I used the image of Christie's as reference for my painting. Later I found an image on a different website: Modigliani-foundation.org. This website seems serious but it showed the following image.

Because of the highly yellow woman and the saturated colour red in the blanket and in general an overexposure of yellow  this doesn't seem to catch the realistic colours of the painting.  The image of Christie's is more realistic.

Note 3: Jonathan Jones, The Guardian 10 november 2015  14:11 GMT.

Note 4: Article on the   nytimes.com by  Amy Qin, nov. 17, 2015.

Note 5: On guggenheim.org I found some info about Modigliani. "In march 1917 Modigliani met Jeanne Hébuterne, who became his companion and model."  In barbarainwonderlart.com it is said that they met in february 1917. 
The quoted part is from barbarainwonderlart.com  ".....all'epoca diciannovenne, la cui dolcezza e ritrosia si facevano notare nello stravagante ambiente artistico di Montparnasse.  Tra il dannato Amedeo e la delicata Jeanne nacque un amore forte e profondo, destinato, come in un romanzo d'appendice, a durare fino alla morte di entrambi."

Note 6: Image from barbarainwonderlart.com