Roma Woman with Baby

1919

Amedeo Modigliani

Painter, Italian, 1884 - 1920

Shown from the knees up, a woman with peach-colored skin and dark hair sits facing us and holding a baby in this stylized, vertical portrait painting. The woman’s features are elongated and simplified, and the nearly geometric forms are outlined with gray. Loose brushstrokes are visible throughout, creating a textured, mottled effect. The woman’s long, thin face comes to a point at her chin, and her brown hair is pulled back on either side of her forehead. She has pale blue eyes, an exaggeratedly long nose, noticeably flushed cheeks, and her coral-pink, bow lips are closed. Her white blouse has a wide, tomato-red, squared collar that lies over her shoulders, and a thin, light blue scarf drapes around her neck and down her chest. Her long, full skirt is blended shades of violet purple and sky blue. The woman’s hands are clasped around a baby wrapped in a navy-blue blanket. The baby’s head is covered with a long pink cap with black and white bands at each end. The woman casts a narrow shadow against the gray wall behind her. Bands of elephant gray, black, and brown behind her across the bottom of the composition suggest an abstracted bench or seat she sits on. The artist signed the work in dark letters near the upper left corner: “Modigliani.”

Media Options

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On View

East Building Ground Level, Gallery 103-A

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 115.9 x 73 cm (45 5/8 x 28 3/4 in.)
    framed: 134.6 x 93.3 x 9.5 cm (53 x 36 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.174

More About this Artwork

Article:  Poet Heid E. Erdrich Responds to a Portrait by Amedeo Modigliani

The educator, curator, interdisciplinary artist, and guest curator at the Mead Art Museum of Amherst College responds to Modigliani's "Roma Woman with Baby"

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Bing et Cie, Paris);[1] (Paul Guillaume and Bernheim Jeune, Paris); sold April 1928 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1]According to Pfannstiel's Modigliani et Son Oeuvre, 1956 and Patani's Amedeo Modigliani: Catalogo Generale, 1991.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1922

  • XIII Exposizione Internazionale d'Arte, Venice, 1922, no. 12.

1928

  • Loan Exhibition of Modern French Art from the Chester Dale Collection for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, Wildenstein Galleries, 1928, No. 28

1929

  • Loan Exhibition Held by New York University Gallery of Living Art:Contemporary Paintings, Brummer Gallery, New York, 1929, no. 38.

  • Exhibition of French Painting of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 1929, no.64, repro

1930

  • XVII Exposizione Biennale Internazionale d'Arte, Venice, 1930, no. 19, as Maternità.

1931

  • Amedeo Modigliani: Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Demotte, Inc., New York, 1931, no. 3, repro.

1933

  • A Century of Progress. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933, no.703, repro.

1943

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 1943-1952 (extended loan), unnumbered catalogue, repro. p. 42

1951

  • Modigliani, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951, repro.

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1952, no. 2, color, no. 46, repro.

1965

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

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].

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1929

  • Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 95, repro.

1930

  • Read, H.A. "The Chester Dale Collection." Vogue 25 (15 February 1930): repro. 81.

1943

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1943:, 42, repro.

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1952 (2nd ed., 1960; rev. ed., 1965): color frontispiece, 46, repro.

1958

  • Ceroni, Ambrogio. Amedeo Modigliani: Peintre. Milan, 1958: no. 135, repro.

1960

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1960 (2nd ed.): color frontispiece, 48, repro.

  • The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 23, color repro. 18.

1962

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 178, color repro.

1965

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): color frontispiece, 64, repro.

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

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:506, color repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 80, repro.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 59-60, color repro.

1970

  • Ceroni, Ambrogio, and Leone Piccioni. I dipinti di Modigliani. Milan, 1970: no. 247, repro.

  • Lanthemann, Joseph. Modigliani 1884-1920. Catalogue raisonné. Barcelona, 1970: 124, no. 243, repro.

1972

  • Ceroni, Ambrogio, and Françoise Cachin. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Modigliani. Translated by Simone Darses. Paris, 1972: no. 247, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 238, repro.

1979

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 131, pl. 118.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 586, no. 898, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 274, repro.

1991

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

1997

  • Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA: One Hundred Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. St. Louis, 1997: 136-137, 210, color repro.

2011

  • Secrest, Meryle. Modigliani: A Life. New York, 2011: 6.

2012

  • Kennicott, Philip. "French Rooms Reopen, With Different Accents." Washington Post 135, no. 55 (January 29, 2012): E25.

Inscriptions

upper right: modigliani

Wikidata ID

Q4024484

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