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The Arts Intel Report

Modigliani Up Close

Amedeo Modigliani, Nude with Coral Necklace, 1917.

Oct 16, 2022 – Jan 29, 2023
2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130, United States

The life of Amedeo Modigliani was tainted by illness. At age 11, he suffered from a severe bout of pleurisy. At 14, he contracted typhus. Later on, he battled chronic tuberculosis. The very picture of “the starving artist,” Modigliani lived in poverty, accepting meager sums for his paintings and in flurries spending the money on drugs and alcohol. In 1920, he died in his studio at the age of 35, leaving a pregnant wife in his wake. Shortly afterward, she took her own life, baby in tow. This show looks at Modigliani’s innovations, working methods, and materials. —Elena Clavarino

Photo courtesy of Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College