A postcard from Modi’s Montparnasse. In 1906, Amadeo Modigliani arrived in Paris from Livorno, Italy. It didn’t take long for the passionate, 22-year-old artist to figure out that Monmartre was out.
The new hot spot for artistic wanna-be’s, intellectuals and other drunks and hash smokers was definitely Montparnasse. So there he moved, and when he wasn’t busy partying, he made outstanding, innovative sculptures and paintings.
Modi, as his friends called him, died in January 1920 at the age of 35. At his funeral, even the police stood at attention, including those who had had the pleasure of arresting Modi for drunken excess and outrageous behavior. “Now he is avenged,” said his long time friend Picasso.
Guests:
Dr. Kenneth Wayne, Curator of “Modigliani and the Artists of Montparnasse” Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Jonathan Dewald, French history specialist, and history professor at State University of New York at Buffalo.