Modigliani

January 10, 2011
Secrest, respected biographer of art world personalities (Being Bernard Berenson), musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, and others, sets out in this volume to resurrect the reputation of the modernist painter Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920). Long the stuff of myth and sensationalism, Modigliani's life was fictionalized in book and film while his lifelong battle with tuberculosis was ignored and his art marginalized. Up until recently the literature has portrayed Modigliani as a ranting, drunken, stoned womanizer—"the archetypal accursed artist," as Secrest puts it. Rather, she says, he suffered throughout his life from various illnesses that he attempted to conceal. But the misperception contributed to Modigliani's status as a minor artist. The "separation of truth from fiction" is the author's cause. In her revisionist account, Secrest delves into numerous primary sources to weave together a comprehensive and well-rounded biography of the artist and to bring to life bohemian society in early 20th-century Paris. Additionally, the author surveys the history of Modigliani scholarship, the ongoing problem of forgeries of the artist's work, and the "chaotic field" of authentication. The result is an enjoyable read for all, and a most welcome contribution to Modigliani scholarship.

December 15, 2010

Prolific biographer Secrest (Shoot the Widow: Adventures of a Biographer in Search of Her Subject, 2007, etc.) introduces us to Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920), and he's not nearly as exciting as the myths that surround the "accursed" artist.

The author provides an overabundance of details about her subject's childhood and his diseases: pleurisy, typhoid, scarlet fever and the tubercular meningitis that eventually killed him. When Secrest finally focuses on Modigliani the artist and his search for the simplicity of the perfect "line," the author diligently illustrates his quest for fulfillment. The city of Paris engrossed him completely and showed the peripatetic artist how to find his own style through long discussions in the cafés with Soutine, Picasso, Utrillo et al. The author discredits many of the legendary exploits surrounding the artist as enhancements of friends who were easily as inebriated as he. There's no doubt, however, that he had multiple addictions. Secrest posits that his use of alcohol and laudanum began as an anesthetic to control his consumptive cough, and that he sacrificed his love of sculpture due to the physical strain involved. Eventually he discovered the perfection of his line in nudes. While rejecting cubism, Modigliani idolized Picasso, whose influence shows throughout his work. Although many classify his work as the School of Paris, when asked in what manner he painted, he would reply simply "Modigliani." As one of the most widely copied artists of the period, his swan-necked portraits single him out as his very own "ism."

Sorting through the detritus of the artist's short life, the author ultimately connects those events in great detail, but sometimes a bit too meticulously. The myths were more fun.

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Starred review from March 15, 2011
With a keen nose for canards and unprecedented access to primary materials, exemplary biographer Secrest (Duveen, 2004) revisits the life and achievemen of artist Modigliani, who worked under a death sentence she believes he kept secret. Tuberculosis raged across Europe during Modiglianis brief life, infecting him when he was a book-loving, artistic teen in Livorno, Italy, and claiming his life in 1920, when he was only 35. Based on an intriguing set of clues she energetically delineates, Secrest theorizes about how the handsome, life-loving, ambitious artist concealed his condition. As for his notorious drunkenness, Secrest suggests that the alcohol helped control his persistent coughing. With this template in place, every aspect of Modiglianis life takes on new meaning, including his iconic portraits, which derived from his deep fascination with masks, the perfect symbol for his own camouflage. Modiglianis depictions of women constitute some of the worlds most evocative masterpieces, and women close to him dominate Secrests account, from his smart, cultured mother, Eug'nie, to his lovers, the great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, writer and journalist Beatrice Hastings, and, tragically, the enchanting art student, Jeanne H'buterne. Secrests new insights into H'buterne, her suicide, and the struggles of her and Modiglianis daughter complete this astute and gripping biography.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)