Reclining nude on a white pillow
Oil on canvas, 1917
Identification
- Published titles
- English: Reclining nude on a white pillow; Reclining nude on a white cushion; Reclining nude on a red couch; Female Nude Reclining on a White Pillow.
German: Liegender Frauenakt auf weißem Kissen. - Date
- 1917. Lanthemann dates the work 1916.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas.
- Dimensions
- 60.6 × 92.7 cm.
- Signature
- Signed modigliani. at top right in red.
- Present location
- Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, inv. 2560. Acquired in 1959 with lottery funds.
Catalogue numbers
| Compiler | Number |
|---|---|
| Arthur Pfannstiel | no. 145 |
| Joseph Lanthemann | no. 154 |
| Ambrogio Ceroni | no. 196 |
| Jeanne Modigliani | YES |
| Christian Parisot | 35/1917 |
| Osvaldo Patani | no. 202 |
| Modigliani Project | YES? |
| MR | YES |
| 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.
- Galerie Weill, Paris (1917).
- Léopold Zborowski, Paris (sold 1929).
- Baixeras Collection, Paris (acquired 1929).
- Monteux Collection, Paris (by 1930).
- Sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 3 June 1937, lot 17.
- Private collection, Oslo (1958).
- Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, inv. 2560, acquired 1959.
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, 1929, p. 24.1
- Arthur Pfannstiel, 1956, no. 145.2
- Ambrogio Ceroni, 1965, no. 199 (this investigation gives Ceroni no. 196).3
- Joseph Lanthemann, 1970, no. 154 (dated 1916).4
- Ambrogio Ceroni and Leone Piccioni, 1970, no. 196.5
- Angela Ceroni, 1989, p. 79.6
- Werner Schmalenbach, 1990, p. 112, no. 61.7
- Christian Parisot, 1991, no. 35/1917.8
- Osvaldo Patani, 1991–94, no. 202.9
- Mason Klein, 2004, pl. 9, p. 62.10
- Simonetta Fraquelli, 2006, p. 43, no. 18.11
- Nancy Ireson and Simonetta Fraquelli, 2017, pp. 138–139.12
- Aviva Burnstock, Isabelle Duvernois and Carol Stringari, 2018.13
Exhibitions
- Paris, Berthe Weill Gallery, 1917.
- Venice, Biennale, sala Venturi, 1930, no. 30.
- Paris, Galerie Marcel Bernheim, 1931, no. 11.
- Paris, Galerie de France, 1945–46, no. 12.
- Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 1958, no. 40.
- Düsseldorf and Zurich, 1991, no. 57.
- London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2006, no. 18.
- Moscow, Pushkin Museum, 2007; Madrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2008; Bonn, 2009, no. 89.
- London, Tate Modern, 2017–18.
Notes
D’Atri papers no. 240, dated 1917.
This investigation records holes at the corners of the support. Three corners are recorded; the fourth hole is described as probably covered by restoration.
This investigation records a high-gloss varnish layer and cites published statements that Modigliani varnished some nudes to imitate the surface of old-master paintings. Later varnish layers have also been identified on other works. No conservation report for this canvas is published in this investigation.
This investigation records that the work was included in the 2018 technical study of the painted nudes.
A 2018 technical study of Modigliani’s painted nudes of 1916–17 (Burnstock, Duvernois and Stringari, The Burlington Magazine) published a limited pigment range used across the analysed nudes: lead white with a low proportion of zinc, vermilion, an organic red lake, iron-oxide pigments (sienna, ochre, umber), Prussian blue, French ultramarine, bone black and viridian. The study notes that not every analysed nude contains every pigment in that list.
The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart confirms Liegender Frauenakt auf weißem Kissen (Female Nude Reclining on a Pillow), inv. 2560, oil on canvas, acquired in 1959 with lottery funds. The museum record rounds the dimensions to 60 × 92 cm; this investigation retains 60.6 × 92.7 cm.
This investigation marked several fields as still being checked. The facts above are those already published; where sources disagree, both readings are given.
Footnotes
- Arthur Pfannstiel, Modigliani. L’Art et la Vie, preface by Louis Latourette, Paris, Seheur, 1929 (presumed catalogue).
- Arthur Pfannstiel, Modigliani et son œuvre, étude critique et catalogue raisonné, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1956.
- 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.
- Angela Ceroni, Les nus, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1989.
- Werner Schmalenbach, Amedeo Modigliani, Munich, Prestel, 1990.
- 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.
- Simonetta Fraquelli, Modigliani and His Models, London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2006.
- Nancy Ireson and Simonetta Fraquelli, Modigliani, London, Tate Modern / Skira Rizzoli, 2017.
- Aviva Burnstock, Isabelle Duvernois and Carol Stringari, “Modigliani’s painted nudes, 1916–17,” The Burlington Magazine 160 (April 2018).