Nude on sofa (Almaisa) 1916

Amedeo Modigliani made this painting of a reclining nude, Almaisa, with oil on canvas, and the ochre palette creates a soft and warm sensation. The figure emerges from the muted ground with very few strokes. There’s an incredible elegance to the way Modigliani approaches the figure; the lines are soft, yet they don’t shy away from the figure's monumentality. You can almost imagine him, eyes squinted, head cocked, painting and repainting. Was he thinking about Ingres, or maybe Cezanne? The way he defines the line of the model’s left arm with a single stroke, like a confident calligrapher, I find very appealing. The whole composition is so balanced and economical, without any superfluous detail; every gesture has a meaning. I think artists are always looking at and responding to one another, across time and place. Each stroke here feels very knowing and precise, yet he trusts the painting to stay open. As a painter, I find that openness and ambiguity very inspiring.