Head of a Woman

c.1911-1912

Amedeo Modigliani

Artist, Italian, 1884 - 1920

The elongated head and neck of a person with stylized features is carved from beige-colored limestone for this freestanding sculpture. Though mostly carved smooth, the surface of the porous limestone is pocked and textured. In this photograph, the face is angled to our right. Short bangs line the narrow forehead of the tall, oval face. The hair flaring around the crown and behind the tidy, oval ear we see is roughly carved. The marquis-shaped eyes are set high on the face. Eyebrows immediately over the eyes join to make a long, blade-like nose that nearly reaches the bottom of the oval face. The arrow-shape of the nose ends just above a half-moon-shaped lip over a round chin. The long neck continues to a block of limestone that acts as the base. The sculpture is photographed in front of a background that lightens from charcoal gray across the top to nearly white across the bottom.

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Head of a Woman (English)
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On View

East Building Ground Level, Gallery 103-A

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    limestone

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 65.2 × 16.51 × 24.8 cm (25 11/16 × 6 1/2 × 9 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.241

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Paul Guillaume); sold April 1928 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[1] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] The Dale collection inventory indicates that this sculpture was included in the Hôtel Drouot, Paris, sale of 15 June 1927 (Chester Dale Papers, Archives of American Art, box 2, folder 27; copy in NGA curatorial files), possibly purchased by Guillaume. However, according to an undated memo by former NGA curator David Rust (copy in NGA curatorial files), the sculpture reproduced in the 1927 sale catalogue is not this work. After examining the reproduction of the only Modigliani head in the Drouot catalogue (no. 67, Tête de femme), Shelley Sturman, NGA head of object conservation, confirmed that it is not 1963.10.241, the head donated by Dale (see emails of 17 and 19 April, 2022, in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1943

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

1951

  • Modigliani: Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, Cleveland Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1981

  • Gauguin to Moore: Primitivism in Modern Sculpture, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1981-1982, no. 68.

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].

1986

  • Global Dialogue: Modern Art and the Inspiration from the Third World, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark, 1986.

1989

  • Arte Italiana 1900-1945, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, 1989.

1993

  • The Unknown Modigliani: Drawings from the Collection of Paul Alexander, Palazzo Grazzi, Venice; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 1993-1994, not in cat.

2004

  • Modigliani: Beyond the Myth, The Jewish Museum, New York; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 2004-2005, pl. 16 (shown only in Washington).

2010

  • Modigliani Sculptor, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto, 2010-2011, no. 20, repro.

2017

  • Modigliani Unmasked, The Jewish Museum, New York, 2017-2018, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1943

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

1965

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 101, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 163.

  • Ceroni, Ambrogio. Amedeo Modigliani: Dessins et Sculptures, avec suite du catalogue illustré des peintures. Milan, 1965: no. XVII, pls. 73, 74.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 144, repro.

1970

  • Lanthemann, Joseph. Modigliani 1884-1920: Catalogue raisonné. Barcelona, 1970: 143, no. 630, repro.

1980

  • Mann, Carol. Modigliani. London, 1980: 35.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 649, no. 1026, repro.

1990

  • Cabanne, Pierre. "Modigliani Sculpteur." L'oeil 419 (June 1990): 54-59.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 154, repro.

  • Butler, Stephen. Modigliani. London, 1994: 28.

1996

  • Krystof, Doris. Amedeo Modigliani 1884-1920: The Poetry of Seeing. English translation by Christina Rathgeber. Cologne, 1996: 33.

Wikidata ID

Q63854313

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