Le Joueur De Violoncelle 1909

Amedeo Modigliani made this ink drawing, titled 'Le Joueur De Violoncelle', at some point during his short career in Paris. It depicts a seated figure, presumably a cello player, rendered with quick, fluid lines and a limited tonal range. Modigliani’s time in Paris coincided with a period of immense change in the art world. He was working in a cosmopolitan environment, which itself was undergoing a massive artistic shift. While the image might appear on its surface to be a simple, even traditional, figurative study, one could easily imagine how the artist might have come into contact with new and challenging approaches to depicting the human form, such as Cubism. At the same time, Modigliani drew inspiration from non-Western art, particularly African masks and sculpture, which were gaining visibility in Parisian collections and exhibitions. As historians, we might use gallery archives and period publications to understand the context for Modigliani’s artistic development and how his work engages with the institutions and social structures of his time.