Modigliani

“Modigliani. Modern Gazes” examines the work of Amedeo Modigliani from a European perspective. The exhibition embeds him in his cosmopolitan Parisian environment and at the same time shows for the first time concrete juxtapositions with artists from German-speaking countries, most of whom were not personally known to him. Nevertheless, exciting parallels can be discovered between Modigliani and Paula Modersohn-Becker, Jeanne Mammen, Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Wilhelm Lehmbruck, which bear witness to the close exchange between the European avant-gardes at that time. Their intensive preoccupation with portraits and nudes accompanied and characterised the development of a young generation of artists' image of humanity.

The exhibition also reassesses Modigliani's image of women and shows the painter as a chronicler of a growing female self-confidence in the years before and during the First World War. Modigliani's nudes must also be reassessed in this context. In line with the latest research, it becomes clear that Modigliani does not degrade his models to objects, but approaches them in a relationship characterised by equality.

The starting point for the exhibition, which was created in collaboration with the Museum Barberini Potsdam, is the two paintings by the artist in the collection of the Staatsgalerie, which is one of only four museums in Germany to own works by the Italian artist. The exhibition is the first Modigliani show in Germany since 2009 and brings together more than 80 works from international museums and private collections.