The Italian 1917

Amedeo Modigliani painted 'The Italian' with oil on canvas, and it's a piece that really dives into the process of seeing, or maybe feeling, a person. The colors are muted, earthy – burnt oranges, greens, and deep blacks that create a sense of depth and shadow. Look at how Modigliani layers the paint, thin and transparent in some areas, thicker and more opaque in others, like around the subject’s dress. You can almost see the ghost of earlier marks underneath. It’s like the painting is built up from memories or impressions. And those hands! Clasped so gently, they almost disappear into the dress, but they’re also so present, so human. Modigliani's been compared to people like Cezanne for his simplified forms and focus on the underlying structure of things. But Modigliani, maybe he's more about getting at something essential and unknowable in a person. He embraces ambiguity and the play of seeing.