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. On the 100th anniversary of Modigliani’s death, the Albertina has mounted a spectacular exhibition of 130 paintings, the works gathered from three continents. —E.C.