Café Singer 1917

Amedeo Modigliani made this ‘Cafe Singer’ with oil on canvas, but the date of it remains unknown. Looking at this piece, I see so much about the process. The colours are simplified, a muted range of greens and browns, and then these gorgeous pinks in the face and hands. I love the way Modigliani’s thinned the paint; it’s as if he’s staining the canvas, pulling the image from the surface. See the hands? The way he's just blocked them in? He’s leaving something for you to complete. He leaves a lot to the imagination here. The face is so simple and masklike, and the neck is elongated in this very distinctive way. The mouth is just a thin line. The eyes are like slits. What is she thinking? You can see the influence of artists like Cezanne here, but Modigliani also had a deep knowledge of classical sculpture. His works feel timeless, speaking to this ongoing conversation about how we see each other, and how we represent ourselves.