In this episode, we’ll be visiting The Little Peasant by Amedeo Modigliani at the Tate Modern, London. Welcome to Art, Culture & Books with me, Anthony King.
Amedeo Modigliani was born in Italy in 1884. He mainly worked in France and he painted The Little Peasant Oil on canvas around 1918. He’s celebrated for his innovative take on portraiture and the human form, where faces, necks, and figures take on surreal stretches, offering a glimpse into a unique artistic realm. The Tate Gallery tell us:
“This is one of a small group of paintings that Modigliani made of young people. There is some doubt over the accuracy of the title, as the same model seems to appear in another portrait by the artist, titled The Young Apprentice. Modigliani had long been influenced by the painter Paul Cézanne (1839-1906). This work may have been inspired by Cézanne’s paintings of country workers, depicted through solid but simplified shapes. Cézanne’s subjects were also positioned in the centre of the canvas and painted in mostly blue tones. In 1919, Modigliani began to paint the more elongated figures for which he is best known. Presented by Miss Jenny Blaker in memory of Hugh Blaker 1941”