Study of a Head 1913

This ochre-toned painting of a human head was made by Amedeo Modigliani, though we don’t know exactly when. I'm struck by the act of painting itself here: layers shifting and emerging, the artist trying to create a face. Those almond eyes, that elongated nose…I think it might have been hard. The paint seems thinly applied, in simple gestures. I can imagine Modigliani thinking about how a single stroke communicates so much feeling. You know, it makes me think about other painters, like Picasso, who were also playing with the human face. But Modigliani's version is less fractured, more about this quiet, monumental presence. In a way, artists are always talking to each other across time. It's this ongoing conversation, inspiring each other's creativity. This work feels very sure, like an embodied expression that embraces all of its ambiguity.