Amedeo Modigliani (1884 Livorno - 1920 Paris). Männerporträt. Um 1910/15 Pencil drawing . Signed and inscribed 'vert nil.' lower left. On fine checquered paper. 27 x 21,7 cm (10,6 x 8,5 in), the full sheet. Expertise: This work's authenticity has kindly been confirmed on the 14 May 2009 in written form (e-mail) by the Modigliani Institut Archives Légales Paris-Rome Provenienz: Collection Prof. Dr. Gustav Klein, Cologne. Private collection Baden-Württemberg. Born in Livorno (Leghorn) to a rich merchant family in 1884, the Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani was preoccupied in his youth with the Italian Renaissance and ancient art surrounding him. In 1898-1900 he took lessons in painting and drawing from Guglielmo Micheli. By 1902 Modigliani was sharing a studio in Florence with Oscar Ghilia and attending a life-drawing school. In 1903 Modigliani transferred to the Venice Academy, where he studied the works of the Old Masters as well as the contemporary movements on the international art scene. In 1906 Amedeo Modigliani went to Paris to attend the Colarossi Academy. In 1907 he met Paul Alexandre there, a physician who would become his first patron, buying paintings and drawings from him and arranging for his first commissions. In 1907 Modigliani showed some works at the Salon d'Autumne and again in 1908 at the Salon des Indépendants. The few works of Modigliani's to have survived from those early years reflect Fauvist influence; Modigliani borrowed freely from the work of Matisse, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso and Cézanne. Paul Alexandre introduced Modigliani to the sculptor Constantin Brancusi, whose influence on him was such that Modigliani devoted himself almost exclusively to sculpture in the years leading up to 1914, after which he once again concentrated for the most part on painting. Modigliani forged close ties of friendship with Brancusi and it was through Brancusi that he became aware of African sculpture, which was the inspiration for the oval faces in his portraits and the exaggeratedly elongated body forms which are his hallmark. Modigliani's chief genres are the female nude and portraiture. His figures are not much modelled and look two-dimensional. Faces are often virtually blind-looking since eyes are left undefined as monochrome colour surfaces, usually in blue. In addition, many of Modigliani's paintings of people are tinged with a peculiar melancholy. Today Modigliani's paintings are owned by the most distinguished museums worldwide and are highly esteemed, which was far from the case during his own lifetime. The Berthe Weill Gallery gave Modigliani his first solo show on 3 December 1917 but was forced to close it after only a few hours because his nudes caused a scandal. His work did not become successful until after the artist's untimely. All his life Modigliani had suffered from poor health. He had to contend with tuberculosis and was also given to excessive drinking. His financial situation was always as precarious as his health. Modigliani died in Paris at the age of thirty-six on 24 January 1920. Very good overall impression. Negligibly discoloured. Firmly mounted on backing on upper corners. With horizontal centrefold, smothed. Lower margin with small skillfully closed split affecting the signature.