Nude on a blue cushion

Oil on canvas, dated 1916–18 according to the compilers?

Date1916–1918?

MediumOil on canvas

Size60.1 × 92.1 cm

CollectionRybolovlev Collection?

SignatureBottom left, in white

Investigation1916-w-59

Identification

Published titles: English: Nude on a blue cushion.
Date: 1916–1918?
Klein 2004 dates it 1916.
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Dimensions: 60.1 × 92.1 cm.
Signature: Signed modigliani at bottom left, in white.
Present location: Rybolovlev Collection, recorded with a query.

Catalogue numbers

Compiler	Number
Arthur Pfannstiel	no. 173
Joseph Lanthemann	no. 143
Ambrogio Ceroni	no. 147
Jeanne Modigliani	YES
Christian Parisot	35/1916
Osvaldo Patani	YES
Modigliani Project	?
MR	?
Modigliani Initiative	?

Legal note on MR: This investigation has not had access to MR’s catalogue raisonné; all research here is based on open sources, publications and exhibitions. By no means has that catalogue been copied at any point. Modigliani Project and Modigliani Initiative are marked YES when the work is published or otherwise recorded by those projects, even if no catalogue number is assigned; otherwise the field is marked ?.

Provenance

Léopold Zborowski, Paris.
Dr Lacroix Collection, Toulouse.
Nathan Cummings Collection, Chicago.
Thereafter unpublished; Rybolovlev Collection recorded with a query.

The sequence follows the published museum, sale, and catalogue record in this investigation. Gaps and uncertain transfers are marked as such.

Selected bibliography

Book-length publications are marked with a footnote giving a full citation. Exhibition catalogues appear in both this list and the exhibition list when this investigation recorded them in both places. Where this investigation listed a long run of secondary mentions, only the principal catalogues and museum or sale references are retained here.

Arthur Pfannstiel, 1956, no. 173.¹
Jean-Albert Cartier, 1958, pp. 93–110, no. 173.²
Ambrogio Ceroni, 1965, p. 195.³
Joseph Lanthemann, 1970, no. 143.⁴
Ambrogio Ceroni and Leone Piccioni, 1970, no. 147.⁵
Gaston Diehl, Modigliani, Paris, Flammarion, 1977, p. 71.
Douglas Hall, 1984, no. 32.⁶
Thérèse Castieau-Barrielle, Modigliani, Paris, ACR, 1987, p. 181.
Angela Ceroni, 1989, p. 53.⁷
Christian Parisot, 1991, no. 35/1916.⁸
Osvaldo Patani, 1991–94.⁹
Mason Klein, 2004, p. 134, pl. 50, dated 1916.¹⁰
Victoria Soto Caba, 2007.¹¹

Exhibitions

New York, Perls Galleries, The Nudes of Modigliani, 1966, no. 11.
Washington, National Gallery of Art, Selections from the Nathan Cummings Collection, 1970, no. 37.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Selections from the Nathan Cummings Collection, 1971, no. 37.
New York, Acquavella Galleries, Amedeo Modigliani: loan exhibition, 1971, no. 28 (Cummings Collection; dated 1917–1918).
New York, The Jewish Museum, Modigliani: Beyond the Myth, 2004.

Notes

This investigation records a drawn ear painted over the colour.

This investigation publishes comparative photographs of a change of appearance after cleaning and notes that a varnish layer was removed. Those photographs are recorded as published facts; no conservation judgement is added here.

The working notes for this investigation marked several fields as still being checked. The facts above are those already published; where sources disagree, both readings are given.

Nude on a blue cushion — Reproduction published in the documentation assembled for this investigation.

Ear details published in the documentation assembled for this investigation.

Comparative appearance — Comparative photographs published in the documentation assembled for this investigation.

Footnotes

Arthur Pfannstiel, Modigliani et son œuvre, étude critique et catalogue raisonné, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1956.
Jean-Albert Cartier, Modigliani Nus, Paris, Hazan, 1958.
Ambrogio Ceroni, Amedeo Modigliani: dessins et sculptures; avec suite du catalogue illustré des peintures, Milan, Edizioni del Milione, 1965.
Joseph Lanthemann, Modigliani, catalogue raisonné: sa vie, son œuvre, son art, Barcelona, G. Condal, 1970.
Ambrogio Ceroni and Leone Piccioni, I dipinti di Modigliani, Milan, Rizzoli, 1970.
Douglas Hall, Modigliani, Oxford, Phaidon, 1984.
Angela Ceroni, Les nus, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1989.
Christian Parisot, Catalogue raisonné Modigliani, Livorno, Graphis Arte, 1991.
Osvaldo Patani, Modigliani. Catalogo generale, Milan, Leonardo, 1991–94.
Mason Klein, Modigliani: Beyond the Myth, New York, The Jewish Museum, 2004.
Victoria Soto Caba, Modigliani: The Timeless Face, Madrid, Libsa, 2007.