Modigliani (2004)
Director: Mick Davis
Stars: Andy Garcia, Elsa Zylberstein
The family much enjoyed the film. It follows the theme of Modigliani's life: the starving artist. But the starving artist finds the love of his life, even if things don't always go smoothly. The two main actors were great in their parts.
One learns who were Modigliani's contemporary artists, such as Picasso (who is not portrayed sympathetically). This always makes me interested in seeing if there are movies about these other painters and poets.
Historical Background:
1884 (July 12) -- Amedeo Clemente Modigliani born in Livorno, Tuscany, Italy to a Italian Jewish family. After his father lost his job as a money-changer the family lived in poverty.
1898 -- at age 14, Modigliani suffered from typhoid.
1900 -- he contracted tuberculosis, which affected him for the rest of his life. He also suffered from bouts of depression.
1902 -- Modigliani enrolled in the Free School of Nude Studies in Florence.
1903 -- he enrolled in the Istituto per le Belle Arti di Venezia in Venice. He began smoking hashish and spending a lot of time in the more disreputable parts of the city.
1906 -- Modigliani moved to Paris, the home of the Europelan avant-garde. He became the epitome of the tragic artist.
He settled in the commune known as Le Bateau-Lavoir in Montmarte in the north of Paris. Other penniless artists lived there. He began to paint, greatly influenced by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and later by Paul Cézanne. Eventually, he developed his own unique style, which was greatly influenced by African and Cambodian painting. .
1909 -- Modigliani returned home to Livorno when his wild life had negatively affected his health. He did not stay long. He returned to France, renting a studio on the left bank of the Seine in Montparnasse.
1912 -- he exhibited some sculptures, but returned to painting.
He painted portraits of some of his friends and contemporaries: his friend Russian expressionist painter Chaim Soutine, Polish painter Moise Kisling, Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, Russian cubist painter Marie Marevna Vorobyev-Stebeslka, Spanish cubist painter Juan Gris, French poet Max Jacob, Swiss poet and novelist Blaise Cendrars, and French dramatist Jean Cocteau.
He had many women friends and lovers. Beatrice Hastings was with him for two years. (She was the model for the painting Madame Pompadour.)
He became friends with British painter Nina Hamnett.
1914 -- World War I. He tried to enlist, but was rejected because of his bad health.
1916 -- he painted portraits of his friend the Polish poet and art dealer Leopold Zborovski and his wife Anna.
1917 (summer) -- Russian sculptor Chana Orloff introduced Modigliani to 18-year-old French art student Jeanne Hébuterne. He soon fell in love with the beautiful girl. The relationship led to troubles with her family, primarily because he was Jewish and secondarily because he was a drunkard and penniless. She started living with the painter, despite their many public rows.
1917 (December 3) -- his first one-man exhibition, at the Berthe Weill Gallery in Paris, was closed after a few hours by the chief of the police because of the "scandalous" nude paintings.
The couple moved to Nice and Jeanne became pregnant.
1918 (November 29) -- birth of their daughter Jeanne.
1919 (May) -- they returned to Paris and rented an apartment in the Rue de la Grande Chaumière. The couple painted portraits of each other and of themselves.
1920 -- Modigliani became delirious and took to bed holding onto his almost nine months pregnant common-law wife. A doctor was called, but he could do little since Modigliani had tubercular meningitis, an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. He died without regaining consciousness.
Many artists attend his funeral at the PPre Lachaise Cemetery near Paris.
Just two days after the death of Modigliani, Jeanne threw herself out of a fifth-floor window, killing herself and her unborn child. She was buried at a different cemetery than the one where Modigliani was buried.
1930 -- Jeanne's embittered family finally allowed her to be moved to rest beside Modigliani.
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