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Max Jacob

Amedeo Modigliani, 1910s

Amedeo Modigliani's portrait of his friend, the poet Max Jacob, belongs to the Cincinnati Art Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. Painted in oil on canvas in the 1910s, it shows Jacob in a suit, rendered in the simplified, elongated manner that defines Modigliani's Paris portraits.

Where to see it

The painting is in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Works on display can change because of rehanging, conservation or loans, so check the Cincinnati Art Museum's official website for current display status before you visit.

What to look for in person

A portrait of a friend

Modigliani often painted people from his own circle in Paris, the writers, painters and dealers he spent his days and nights with, rather than paying clients. Max Jacob, a poet who was close to many avant-garde artists, was one of these companions. Standing in front of the canvas, read it as a picture of someone the artist knew personally. Ask yourself how much of the sitter's character comes through the pose and the face, and how much has been absorbed into Modigliani's own recognisable way of shaping a figure.

The suit as a shape

Jacob is shown wearing a suit. Modigliani usually treated clothing not as an inventory of seams and buttons but as broad, simplified areas of colour that support the head and shoulders. Look at how the suit is handled here. Notice the way its outline frames the face. Observe how the edges of the garment meet the background, and whether the jacket reads more as a flat silhouette or as a solid, rounded body. That balance between flatness and volume is central to how his portraits work.

Scale and stylisation

The canvas measures 92.7 by 60.3 cm, a tall upright format that suits Modigliani's habit of lengthening his figures. His portraits of the mid-1910s are known for simplified oval faces, long noses and necks, and stylised, often narrowed eyes. These are features that art historians link to his interest in sculpture. Step back first to take in the overall silhouette. Then move closer to see how the paint is laid on and how far each of these signature traits shapes Jacob's features in this particular picture.

About the painting

Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) was an Italian artist who settled in Paris in 1906 and spent the rest of his short career there. He is best known for portraits and nudes in which faces and bodies are pared down to elegant, elongated forms. Many of his sitters were fellow members of the city's artistic community, and this canvas belongs to that group of portraits of friends.

The sitter, Max Jacob (1876-1944), was a French poet and painter. He was a well-known figure among the writers and artists of early twentieth-century Paris and was friendly with many of the painters of the avant-garde. Modigliani's portrait shows him wearing a suit, presenting him as a composed, formally dressed figure rather than in the bohemian setting often associated with that circle.

The work is an oil painting on canvas measuring 92.7 by 60.3 cm. The museum's record dates it to the 1910s, and it is generally placed around 1916-1917. These were productive years in which Modigliani, having largely turned from sculpture back to painting, refined the portrait style for which he is remembered.

The painting entered the Cincinnati Art Museum as a gift from Mary E. Johnston in 1959. It remains in the museum's collection in Cincinnati, Ohio. For visitors, it offers a chance to see in person how Modigliani turned a friend's likeness into a carefully constructed arrangement of line, contour and colour. Before travelling, confirm on the museum's official website that the painting is currently on view.

Key facts

Sources

• Wikidata Q46955783
• Wikipedia (fr) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org