secretmodigliani.com

This painting named "young woman in a sailor blouse" is the perfect example:

I do not pretend to be a smart-ass but really who cares if I am... lets take a closer look:
There is a black line that marks the 4 borders of the canvas. Is it just for visual purposes? NO (not only, but also)
And what is that little hole in the corner? can we see it on the other 3 corners??? YES
Why? what for?
The most comfortable way of painting is to get a roll of canvas, now and then you could buy an already primed one. (Great for those who like to see authenticity in counting the threads of the canvas)
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Then you have the roll in the studio and the stretcher armed so all you have to do is put the stretcher on top of the canvas fabric, mark it with the black paint and cut leaving a few spare centimeters in each side to nail it to the stretcher once painted and dry. (that will be made in the gallery not in the studio or it will be similar to inflate the life jacket inside the plane) Modigliani liked to nail the fabric on the wall and then to paint, not in an easel, this famous photo of him:
(this image could possible be from 1915-1916) He is punching to the wall a piece of paper? or canvas? or cardboard? In this case it looks like paper but there is not an easel in his studio? based on the photos it seems not. The famous chair is there... So we have paintings hanging in the wall, we can see "Raymond" dated in 1915 and nearer to us " Beatrice Hastings with hat" dated in 1916
Raymond is signed and dated Modigliani / 1915	Beatrice is signed and dated Modigliani / 1916
Will this image be of the first months of 1916? 1.- Is curious to see the treatment he does with the letters in "Beatrice" very similar to the Diego Rivera portrait dated by the experts in 1914 and by Diego Rivera (the original Diego, the sitter in 1916) ---------------------------------------------- Going back to what we were in to: In the back of Modigliani from the same day we see this image: other 4 drawings nailed

This is the French standard sizes for oil paintings canvases:

But in Modigliani everything goes by his rules, even the use of canvases goes with his own method (even when using standard size ones)
Lets see an example based in 1917 the great year of the nudes:
1917 Dr. Deveraigne Size	1917 Hanka Zborowska	1917 Hanka Zborowska
55 x 46 cm	130.2 x 81.3 cm	55 x 38 cm
This would correspond to a 10 F A canvas made for Figures	This would correspond to a 60 M A canvas made for Marines	This would correspond to a 10 L A canvas made for Landscapes
1917 Nude	1917 The beautiful Roman	1917 Nude
60 x 92 cm	100 x 65 cm	90.5 x 146.4 cm
This would correspond to a 30 M A canvas made for Marines	This would correspond to a 40 M A canvas made for Marines	This would correspond to a 80 M A canvas made for Marines
And in the other years we see the same feature, he used the canvas as he wanted. No rules.
If you apply this feature to other artist you discover that in the same period Picasso used the F for figure, the L for landscape and the M almost null And it is a common unquestionable knowledge that Picasso was a total outlaw to the rules of the art world... Maybe we should reconsider if Modigliani was the real outlaw and Picasso the academical guy.
In resume 1.- There is no laws in canvas use by Modigliani 2.- We can find all type of canvas, from pre-made to made by him 3.- We should expect to find sizes uncommon to artist of his time, but common for other Modigliani 's work 4.- Many punched canvases and with black or dark stroke in all borders 5.- Mainly not the quality canvas/stretcher you can find in a Picasso or even a Kisling 6.- And again, this is art, there is no rules...