A GLIMPSE INTO MODIGLIANI

The Barnes exhibition uses innovative conservation efforts to reveal Modigliani’s unique artistry and behind-the-canvas decisions.

The much-celebrated Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920), with his famous “long-face” style of sculptures and paintings of subjects with elongated faces and necks has had his artistry discussed and examined through many exhibitions and publications. As many leading international museums and foundations attempted to bring together his work, a new group of scholars have been coming up with innovative methods to better understand and convey Modigliani’s evolving artistic processes and decisions.

The Modigliani retrospective at Tate Modern in London from 2017 one of the first exhibitions that hinted at this new scholarship. Building on those findings as well as the inputs of an international team of curators and conservators, the new exhibition Modigliani Up Close at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia brings together many of the modern art figure’s sculptures, paintings, and drawings. But more importantly, aims to contextualize the evolution of his style — his shift from popular movements and repurposed canvases to ethereal paintings with Mediterranean influence. This is done not only by hinting at the locations and circumstances of how and where he worked but also with exciting conservation efforts and analytical techniques that helped curators and researchers better understand the collection of works.

A couple of days before opening it to public, Barnes introduced Modigliani Up Close to a group of members of press, and the fruitful conservation efforts (also explained in their newly published catalog) were explained by the four curators: Barbara Buckley, Senior Director of Conservation and Chief Conservator of Paintings at the Barnes; Simonetta Fraquelli, independent curator and consulting curator for the Barnes; Nancy Ireson, Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions & Gund Family Chief Curator at the Barnes; and Annette King, Paintings Conservator at Tate London.

Techniques like X-radiography, infrared reflectography, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) allowed the curators to understand and reveal previously unknown aspects of Modigliani’s work, and the walls were filled with side-to-side panels highlighting previous use of the canvases, underdrawings, and alterations–of course complimented with background information about how Modigliani’s location, financial circumstances, and level of experimentation.