Nude on a Divan

1918

Amedeo Modigliani

Artist, Italian, 1884 - 1920

A nude woman lying across a brown divan in front of a russet-red wall is loosely painted with areas of mottled color in this horizontal composition. The woman fills the wide canvas so her head is angled into the upper left corner, and her legs extend off the right edge of the composition below the knees. Her long, oval face rests back against the couch, and she looks at us with slitted, almond-shaped eyes under dark, shallowly arched brows. She has a long, straight nose, flushed cheeks, a double chin, and her pink lips are closed. Her breasts fall to each side so we only see the pink nipple closer to us. She has a rounded belly and a triangle of brown hair at her groin. Her arms rest alongside her body. The couch has a low, upholstered arms sweeping down the sides. Black lines in the red wall behind the couch suggest molding or cabinetry. The artist signed the painting in the upper right corner, “modigliani.”

Media Options

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On View

East Building Ground Level, Gallery 103-A

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 60.2 x 91.7 cm (23 11/16 x 36 1/8 in.)
    framed: 83.2 x 112.4 cm (32 3/4 x 44 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.77

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Madame Castaing, Château de Leves, Paris); Andre de Coppet [d. 1953], Paris; (Galerie Lalot, Paris); sold June 1929 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • Amedeo Modigliani: Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Demotte, Inc., New York, 1931, no. 28.

1943

  • Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1943-1951, unnumbered cat., repro.

1954

  • Long term loan, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1954-1963

1983

  • Modigliani: An Anniversary Exhibition, J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1983-1984, unnumbered brochure [exhibited in Washington only].

Bibliography

1943

  • Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. Philadelphia, 1943:, unpaginated, repro.

1965

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 60, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 91.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 79, repro.

1970

  • Ceroni, Ambrogio, and Leone Piccioni. I dipinti di Modigliani. Milan, 1970: no. 145, repro.

  • Lanthemann, Joseph. Modigliani 1884-1920. Catalogue raisonné. Barcelona, 1970: 121, no. 211, repro.

1972

  • Ceroni, Ambrogio, and Françoise Cachin. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Modigliani. Translated by Simone Darses. Paris, 1972: no. 145, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 236, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 586, no. 902, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 273, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 245, repro.

Inscriptions

upper right: modigliani

Wikidata ID

Q20190344

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