Pink Blouse 1919

Modigliani painted Pink Blouse, sometime in his short life, with oils on canvas. Look at the way he’s modeled her face and hands, a kind of sculptural approach, where the planes are built up using ochres, pinks and creams, with dark lines to define the edges. The lines are bold, confident, but also kind of wobbly, human. Her expression is really interesting - she seems sad, but also maybe a little bit defiant. Modigliani manages to capture something really complex in her gaze. It's like she's looking right through you. The way the pink of her blouse contrasts with the blues and grays of the background, it makes the figure pop, almost like a cut out. There’s something about that flattened perspective, and the stylized features, that reminds me of early Italian Renaissance painting, but with a modern twist. I think of painters like Cezanne, who was also trying to find new ways of seeing and representing the world. They both remind us that art isn’t about perfection, it’s about exploring and experimenting, and about the ongoing conversation between artists across time.