Amedeo Modigliani 1884 – 1920
The Tuscan sculptor and painter, recognizable by the elonged shapes, based on African and Oceanian art.
Caryatid in the form a standing nude (ca. 1912)
At a young age, Modigliani travelled to the stone quarries of Carrara to become skilled in the art of sculpting. Later he got fascinated by the traditional sculptures from Africa and Oceania.
As far as is known to us, Modigliani made 24 sculpted heads, and only two complete human figures which both have the characteristics of a caryatid. The sculpture, which was originally made from lime stone, is, with a height of 1.6 metres, the largest one he has ever made. It shows a mixture of archaic styles, ranging from Cycladic to Cambodian.