Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)

D'après Watteau: femme et arlequins

Details

Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)
D'après Watteau: femme et arlequins
signed 'Modigliani' (lower right), and inscribed 'd'après Watteau' (center right)
pencil on paper laid down on board
16 7/8 x 10 3/8 in. (42.8 x 26.3 cm.)
Drawn in 1915

Provenance

William R. Valentiner, Detroit.
Anon. sale, Christie's, New York, 15 November 1990, lot 127.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature

O. Patani, Amedeo Modigliani: Catalogo Generale, Disegni 1906-1920, Milan, 1994, p. 112, no. 139 (illustrated).

Exhibited

Paris, Musée du Luxembourg, Modigliani, L'ange au visage grave, October 2002-March 2003, p. 134, no. VI (illustrated).

Lot Essay

Modigliani based this drawing on a late etching by Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) titled Les habits sont Italiens, depicting players in a troupe from the traditional Italian commedia dell'arte. Modigliani shared Picasso's interest in harlequins, a subject that the latter would soon re-introduce in his neo-classical works. Other Modigliani drawings featuring commedia dell'arte characters are Patani, nos. 160-161, from 1915-1916.

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