Woman's Head 1915

Amedeo Modigliani created this painting, Woman's Head, using oil on canvas at an unknown date. Modigliani was working in Paris at a time when the institutions of art were changing rapidly. The flattened perspective and simplified forms of the face recall African masks. The long nose and almond eyes are typical of Modigliani's style, which was influenced by the avant-garde art scene in Paris. Modigliani’s work was shown in galleries alongside that of Picasso and Brancusi. He drew on a wide range of sources, from tribal art to Renaissance painting, but his work remains highly distinctive. If you want to know more about the meaning of his art, there are many sources that can help. These include catalogues of exhibitions and scholarly articles that shed light on the artist's life and the cultural context of his work. Art history shows us that the meaning of art is always tied to its social and institutional context.