LE GRAND NU  BY AMEDEO MODIGLIANI
Pfannstiel Lanthemann Ceroni J. Modigliani Parisot Patani Restellini Wayne
Nº 231 Nº 149 Nº 184 YES 38/1917 Nº 198 YES YES
Date 1917
Title Reclining nude (on the left side) - Nu couché sur le côté gauche - Le grand nu - the great nude - Reclining nude on white - Reclining nude on left side turning the head
Materials Oil on canvas
Size 90.5 x 146.4 cm (Patani, Parisot 89 x 146 - 1958 ex. 89.5 x 145)
Signature: Signed "modigliani" bottom left
Actual Location Private Collection
Provenance -?-

Léopold Zborowski, Paris
Galerie Weill, Paris (1917)?
Léopold Zborowski, Paris (Sold 1929)
?
Netter Collection, Paris (1933)

Sale: Christie's, New York, Sale 1299 - Impressionist and Modern Art - 4 November 2003  - Lot 29
Estimate: 20.000.000 - 25.000.000 USD - Sold: 26.887.500 USD

Private Collection, USA

Sale: Sotheby's, New York, Sale 1299 - Impressionist and Modern Art - 14 May 2018  - Lot 18
Estimate: Undisclosed - Sold: 157.159.000 USD

Private Collection



Bibliography -?-

Salmon, Modigliani, sa vie et son oeuvre,Ed. des Quatres Chemins, Paris, 1926, pl. 22
Schwarz, Paris, 1927, pl. 6
Pfannstiel, "catalogue presume" Modigliani. L'Art et la Vie. Preface de Louis Latourrettes, Seheur, Paris, 1929, p. 48
Schürer, "Die Kunst geht nach brot" , Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, vol. 67, Darmstadt, 1930-31, p. 237
Darmstadt, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, 1931, p. 237
Taguchi, Modigliani, Alier-Sha Tokyo, 1936, pl. 18
Cocteau, Modigliani, Hazan, Paris, 1950 - 52, pl. 15
D'Ancona, Modigliani, Chagall, Soutine, Pascin - Aspetti dell'espressionismo, Edizione del Milione, Milano, 1952, p. 22
Pfannstiel, Modigliani et son oeuvre, etude critique et catalogue raisonne, bibliotheque des arts, Paris, 1956 - nº 231 (titled Reclining nude on left side turning the head - dated 1917)
Cartier, Modigliani Nus, Hazan, Paris, 1958, pl. 8
Ceroni, Amedeo Modigliani: Peintre; Suivi des Souvenirs de Lunia Czechowska, Edizioni del Milione, 1958 - nº 120
Russoli, Amedeo Modigliani, Exhib. catalogue Palazzo Reale, Edizioni dell'ente manifestazioni Milanesi, Milano, 1958, pl. 27
Geza, Modigliani, Budapest, Corvina Kiadó, 1969, pl. 32
Lanthemann, Modigliani, catalogue raisonné: sa vie, son oeuvre, son art, G. Condal, Barcelona, 1970 - nº 149 (dated 1916)
Ceroni & Piccioni, Il dipinti di Modigliani, Rizzoli, Milano, 1970 - nº 184 (size 89 x 146 - dated 1917)
Dalevèze, Modigliani, Lausanne, 1971, pl. 1
Hall, Modigliani, Phaidon, Oxford, 1979, pl. 37
Modigliani , Liège, Musée Saint-Georges, 1980, illustratd p. 39
Hall, Modigliani, Phaidon, Oxford, 1984, pl. 39
Castieau-Barrielle, La vie et l'oeuvre de Amedeo Modigliani, Editions ACR, Paris, 1987, p. 177
Parisot, Modigliani, Graphis Arte, 1988 , p. 148
Angela Ceroni, Les nus, Biblioteque des Arts, Paris, 1989, p. 59 - nº 11
Schmalenbach, Amedeo Modigliani, Prestel, Munich, 1990, p. 51, pl. 66
Parisot, Catalogue Raisonee Modigliani, Graphis Arte, 1991 - 38/1917
Patani, Catalogo Generale, Leonardo, Milano, 1991-94 - nº 198
Kruszynski. Amedeo Modigliani: Portraits and Nudes. Munich, 1996, p. 97
Soto Caba, Modigliani, The timeless face, Libsa, Madrid, 2007, pp. 320-21
Ireson, Fraquelli, Modigliani, London, Tate Modern, Skira Rizzoli, London, 2017, p. 132-133 (+ cover)


In process

Exhibitions -?-

Paris, Modigliani , Berthe Weill Gallery, 1917
Paris, Modigliani retrospective, Marcel Bernheim (Galerie Bernheim-Jeune), 1931 (illustrated in cover) nº 15 (titled Grand Nu Couché dated in 1918)
Darmstadt, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, 1931,
Brussels, Modigliani: Retrospective Exhibition. Palais des beaux-arts, 1933 - nº 15 (dated in 1916)
Basel, Amedeo Modigliani, Kunsthalle, 1934 - nº 7
Paris, Cinquante ans de peinture française dans les collections particulières de Cézanne et Matisse, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 1952 - nº 114
Paris, Le Nu à travers les Ages, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, 1954 - nº 40 (titled Grand nu couché)
Paris, Cent Tableaux de Modigliani, Galerie Charpentier, 1958 - nº 63 - dated 1918
Marseille, Modigliani, Musée Cantini, 1958 - nº 21 (dated in 1918)
Liege, Modigliani exhibition. Musée Saint Georges, 1980 ?
Paris, Modigliani, Musée de Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1981 - nº 53
Lausanne, Modigliani, Utrillo, Soutine, Les peintres de Zborowski et leurs amis, Fondation de L'Hérmitage, 1994 - nº 19
London, Modigliani, Tate Modern, 2017-2018

In process

Other Nº 15 in D' Atri papers dated 1916 - titled Grand Nu Couche - 89 x 146.5

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The painting framed for auction in 2018:

The painting framed for auction in 2018
Image Courtesy of Sotheby's

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The painting framed London, Modigliani, Tate Gallery, 2017:

The painting framed London, Modigliani, Tate Gallery, 2017


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Detail of signature in visible normal light:
NUDE SIGNATURE DETAIL


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The eyes of this painting reflect a style Modigliani used from the end of 1915 to the first months of 1918, very similar eye construction can be
seen in many Modigliani works from this period:

eyes


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Painting is covered with a high glossy varnish layer, done by the artist, it is recorded in several sources that Modigliani wanted to imitate the feel & texture of
the old masters, a modern Titian, so he varnished his painting to achieve a similar glossy craquelure of the surface (also some of the newest studies have
discovered some other were varnished later).

This is one of the main reasons to avoid strong cleaning in the Modigliani nudes, first because they lost the red/orange veils mixed with he varnish.

I have no information of any cleaning procedure in this case, but the surface seems to be clean and the painting when live maintain the reds in perfect
shape (many known photos adjust the red surface to a more softer orange or almost pink in photographic effects).

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This painting presents holes in 2 corners, probably the other holes are covered by restoration.

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  This page is a work on progress, nothing in this page should be considered as final or definitive.