Woman Seated by a Fireplace 1915

Amedeo Modigliani painted "Woman Seated by a Fireplace" with oils, building up the image, stroke by stroke. The painting has a narrow palette, mainly earth tones, muted reds and blacks, which gives the piece a sombre mood. I think about Modigliani making this picture, about the paint itself; maybe it’s lean, slippery. I think about his touch, his intentions, and the way he applied each stroke. There’s a lot of black in her dress and the fireplace, but he models the forms with slight variations in tone, using dark shades of red and brown. The way he uses these colours suggests a lot to me about the history of painting. There is a long history of artists looking at other artist's work, copying them even, as a way of learning about their techniques and approach. It's like being in a conversation with them. By looking at paintings from the past, we can see how different painters have approached the same problems, and how they have found different solutions. Modigliani has some clear influences but has found his own language. It's so personal and subjective and open to interpretation.