The identity of the patient-looking sitter is unknown. Modigliani might have chosen her because she was a compatriot. Most of the artist's models were not professionals, except those he hired for his pictures of female nudes.
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Credit Line:Gift of The Chester Dale Collection, 1956
Object Number:56.4
Inscription: Signed (upper right): modigliani
the artist, Paris (possibly sold through Leopold Zborowski, Paris to Bradly); Monsieur Bradly, Paris; [Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, by 1930–31; sold on June 29, 1931, for Fr 146,000, to Dale]; Chester Dale, New York (1931–56; his gift to MMA)
New York. De Hauke & Co., Inc. "30 Years of French Painting, 1900–1930: 30 Paintings by 30 Artists," October 1–19, 1929, no. 21 (as "L'Italienne") [possibly this picture].
Paris. Galerie Georges Petit. "Cent ans de peinture française," June 15–30, 1930, no. 52 (as "L'Italienne").
New York. Demotte, Inc. "Amedeo Modigliani, 1884–1920: Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings," November 7–28, 1931, no. 20 (as "L'Italienne," 1917, lent by Mr. Chester Dale, New York).
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. "Modigliani," November 1933, no. 76 (as "L'Italienne," lent by Chester Dale, New York).
Kunsthalle Basel. "Modigliani," January 7–February 4, 1934, no. 66 (as "L'Italienne," lent by Mrs. Chester Dale, New York).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection," October 10, 1943–unknown date, unnumbered cat. (as "Italian Woman," ca. 1915).
Brussels. Palais international des beaux-arts. "50 ans d'art moderne: Exposition universelle et internationale," April 17–July 21, 1958, extended to October 19, 1958, no. 226 (as "Femme italienne").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 14, 1970–June 1, 1971, no. 394 (as "Italian Woman").
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. "Amedeo Modigliani, 1884–1920," March 26–June 28, 1981, no. 71 (dated 1918).
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. "Modigliani," July 19–September 29, 1985, no. 92 (dated 1918).
Nagoya. Aichi Prefectural Art Gallery. "Modigliani," October 23–November 7, 1985, no. 92.
Yokohama Museum of Art. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century," March 25–June 4, 1989, no. 164.
Martigny. Fondation Pierre Gianadda. "Modigliani," June 19–October 28, 1990, no. 93 (dated 1917).
Madrid. Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. "Memoria del futuro: Arte Italiano desde las primeras vanguardias a la posguerra," October 31, 1990–January 15, 1991, unnumbered cat. (p. 250; as "Italian Woman," 1917).
Tokyo. Tobu Museum of Art. "Exposition Amedeo Modigliani au Japon," November 3–December 23, 1992, no. 36 (as "Portrait de l'Italienne").
Daimaru Museum, Kyoto. "Exposition Amedeo Modigliani au Japon," December 31, 1992–January 12, 1993, no. 36.
Daimaru Museum, Osaka. "Exposition Amedeo Modigliani au Japon," January 20–February 8, 1993, no. 36.
Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki. "Exposition Amedeo Modigliani au Japon," February 20–March 28, 1993, no. 36.
Lausanne. Fondation de l'Hermitage. "Les Peintres de Zborowski: Modigliani, Utrillo, Soutine et leurs amis," June 24–October 23, 1994, no. 16.
Museo d'Arte Moderna, Lugano. "Amedeo Modigliani," March 28–June 27, 1999, no. 56.
Buffalo. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. "Modigliani and the Artists of Montparnasse," October 19, 2002–January 12, 2003, no. 20 (dated 1917).
Fort Worth. Kimbell Art Museum. "Modigliani and the Artists of Montparnasse," February 9–May 25, 2003, no. 20.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Modigliani and the Artists of Montparnasse," June 29–September 28, 2003, no. 20.
Jewish Museum, New York. "Modigliani: Beyond the Myth," May 21–September 19, 2004, unnumbered cat. (pl. 68).
Toronto. Art Gallery of Ontario. "Modigliani: Beyond the Myth," October 23, 2004–January 23, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Washington, D. C. Phillips Collection. "Modigliani: Beyond the Myth," February 19–May 29, 2005, unnumbered cat.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Modigliani and His Models," July 8–October 15, 2006, no. 22 (dated 1917).
Philadelphia. Barnes Foundation. "Modigliani Up Close," October 16, 2022–January 29, 2023, no. 37.
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. "Modigliani: Modern Gazes," November 24, 2023–March 17, 2024, no. 102 (dated 1918–19).
Potsdam. Museum Barberini. "Modigliani: Modern Gazes," April 27–August 18, 2024, no. 102.
Edward Alden Jewell. "New Season Opens in Local Galleries." New York Times (October 6, 1929), p. X12 [possibly this picture], describes "L'Italienne" in Exh. New York 1929 as having "one of the familiar long, oval faces, the long neck, the narrow, sloping shoulders, the eyes that are almond slits".
Art News 28, Section One (April 26, 1930), ill. n.p., reproduced in an advertisement for the Galerie Georges Petit.
Maud Dale. "Modigliani." Formes no. 18 (October 1931), ill. between pp. 122 and 123, calls it "Italian Woman".
Umbro Apollonio. "Amedeo Modigliani, 1884–1920." Cahiers d'art 25 (1950), ill. p. 173, calls it "La Brune".
Theodore Rousseau, Jr. "New Accessions of Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 14 (April 1956), p. 198, ill. p. 203.
Arthur Pfannstiel. Modigliani et son œuvre. Paris, 1956, pp. 154–55, no. 297, lists it in the collection of Mrs. Chester Dale, New York.
Ambrogio Ceroni. Amedeo Modigliani, peintre: Suivi des "souvenirs' de Lunia Czechowska. Milan, 1958, p. 60, no. 110, ill., calls it "Femme assise (L'italienne)" and dates it 1918.
Geoffrey T. Hellman. "Profiles: Custodian." New Yorker (October 25, 1958), p. 52.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, XIX–XX Centuries. New York, 1967, pp. 241–42, ill., comment that "it would be interesting to identify her with Rosalia, an Italian who kept a little restaurant in the Rue Campagna-Première, where Modigliani was one of her favorites".
Nello Ponente. Modigliani. New York, 1969, p. 34, colorpl. 47, calls it "Portrait of a Woman" and dates it 1917–18.
Kenneth Clark. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1970, pp. 323, 326, no. 394, ill., dates it 1917.
Ambrogio Ceroni. I dipinti di Modigliani. Milan, 1970, p. 101, no. 268, ill. [French ed., 1972], dates it 1918; erroneously locates it in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
J[oseph]. Lanthemann. Modigliani, 1884–1920, catalogue raisonné: Sa vie, son Oeuvre complet, son art. Barcelona, 1970, p. 130, no. 336, ill. p. 248, calls it "Femme assise (L'italienne)" and dates it end 1918–1919; notes the influence of Japanese art in this picture.
Douglas Hall. Modigliani. Oxford, 1984, unpaginated, under no. 41, fig. 35, calls it "The Italian Girl" and dates it 1918.
Lowery S. Sims inTreasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Exh. cat., Yokohama Museum of Art. Tokyo, 1989, p. 202, no. 164, ill. (color), dates it 1917; notes that this sitter was not a professional model or member of Modigliani's immediate circle.
Gaston Diehl. Modigliani. rev. ed. [1st ed., 1969]. New York, 1989, ill. p. 85 (color), calls it "Italian Woman" and dates it 1918.
Osvaldo Patani. Amedeo Modigliani: Catalogo generale. Vol. 1, Dipinti. Milan, 1991, p. 283, no. 281, ill. (color), calls it "Donna seduta (L'italiana)" and dates it 1918.
Christian Parisot. Modigliani: Catalogue raisonné. Ed. Giorgio and Guido Guastalla. Vol. 2, Peintures, dessins, aquarelles. Livorno, 1991, pp. 328–29, no. 23/1918, ill. p. 207, dates it 1918.
Marc Restellini inExposition Amedeo Modigliani au Japon. Exh. cat., Tobu Museum of Art. Tokyo, 1992, pp. 124–25, 204, no. 36, ill. (color), dates it 1918; states that it was painted in Nice, as a pendant to a portrait of a man called "Le Niçois" (private collection; Patani 1991, no. 300; Parisot 1991, no. 24/1919), citing the sitters' similar composure, black clothing, and the green band along the right side of both pictures; surmises that the sitters were connected in some way, similar to Italian pendant portraits of the sixteenth century.
Joachim Pissarro inLes Peintres de Zborowski: Modigliani, Utrillo, Soutine et leurs amis. Exh. cat., Fondation de l'Hermitage. Lausanne, 1994, p. 165, no. 16, ill. (color), dates it 1918; notes references to Flemish portraiture, Japanese art, naive art, and Italian mannerism in this picture.
Marie-Christine Decroocq inAmedeo Modigliani. Exh. cat., Museo d'Arte Moderna, Lugano. Milan, 1999, pp. 123, 198, no. 56, ill. (color and bw), dates it 1918, executed during Modigliani's 1918–19 stay in Nice; surmises that it relates to two male portraits of similar format: "The Notary of Nice" (Patani 1991, no. 300; Parisot 1991, no. 24/1919) and "Seated Man with Orange Background" (Patani 1991, no. 286; Parisot 1991, no. 44/1918), both in private collections; suggests that these three portraits of unknown sitters were executed in sequence; believes that the title "L'Italienne" refers to the traditional hairstyle with a knotted black ribbon.
Mason Klein inModigliani: Beyond the Myth. Ed. Mason Klein. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York. New Haven, 2004, pp. 6, 205, colorpl. 68, dates it 1917.
Emily Braun inModigliani: Beyond the Myth. Ed. Mason Klein. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York. New Haven, 2004, p. 27, remarks that only this unknown Italian sitter "can be securely identified as a compatriot" among Modigliani's portraits.
Christian Parisot. Modigliani: La Vita le opere. Rome, 2006, ill. p. 286 (color), dates it 1918.
Mason Klein inModigliani. Exh. cat., Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome. Milan, 2006, p. 80, fig. 2 [Italian transl. of Ref. Klein 2004].
Kimberly A. Jones in Kimberly A. Jones and Maygene Daniels. The Chester Dale Collection. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2009, pp. 9, 23, 159 n. 48, p. 161 n. 133.
Silvia Centeno et al. inModigliani Up Close. Ed. Barbara Buckley et al. Exh. cat., Barnes Foundation. Philadelphia, 2022, pp. 186–89, no. 37, ill. (color, overall) and figs. 1–4c (color details, X-radiograph, infrared, photomicrographs, and XRF imaging).
Barbara Buckley and Martha Lucy inModigliani Up Close. Ed. Barbara Buckley et al. Exh. cat., Barnes Foundation. Philadelphia, 2022, p. 143 n. 4.
Vivien Greene and Lena Stringari inModigliani Up Close. Ed. Barbara Buckley et al. Exh. cat., Barnes Foundation. Philadelphia, 2022, p. 255 n. 4.
Barbara Buckley et al. inModigliani Up Close. Ed. Barbara Buckley et al. Exh. cat., Barnes Foundation. Philadelphia, 2022, p. 10 n. 16.
Jens-Henning Ullner and Ortrud Westheider inModigliani: Modern Gazes. Ed. Christiane Lange and Ortrud Westheider. Exh. cat., Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Munich, 2024, pp. 264–65, 280, no. 102, ill. (color).
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