NARRATOR:

Many early twentieth century Western artists drew on ancient or non-Western art in their search for new ways of looking and thinking about representation and abstraction. For artists living in Paris, like Amadeo Modigliani, one source of inspiration was the Musée du Trocadero, the city’s ethnographic museum, which had an expansive display of objects from around the world.

Kimberly A. Jones, associate curator of French paintings.

KIM JONES:

Here we have this figure that’s very much inspired by African sculptures, but also ancient Greek sculpture, with these elongated features, these sort of sweeping, curves of the face, the elongated, geometric nose; abstracted and yet at the same time, very potent, very powerful. These are almost totemic images. They had that kind of energy and power to them.

NARRATOR:

To create this work, Modigliani used a limestone block discarded from the building of the Paris subway system.

Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern art.

HARRY COOPER:

The way the nose comes down from the eyebrows, and goes all the way right down to the mouth. It’s all about that vertical, that division. Sharply carved, so we start to feel some real resounding contrast of light and dark.

KIM JONES:

When you look at this sculpture, you would not be out of line in thinking of the Mona Lisa. It has that same sort of serenity to it, that same unknowable quality. There’s an interior life in this work of art that’s hinted at, but is never fully described. And, indeed, it invites us to look at it and wonder what this woman is thinking, what she is feeling.

NARRATOR:

In this gallery you are surrounded by paintings by Modigliani—and you’ll see they share many of the same characteristics.