A young girl 1916

Modigliani painted this portrait of a young girl with oils on canvas sometime around 1917. He’s used a limited palette of warm reds and blacks with just a bit of white in the girl's striped skirt, leaving the background a gloomy grey-green. It looks like he’s laid the paint on thinly, almost like watercolor in places, except those red lips, which feel so luscious. I imagine Modigliani staring intently at his model, capturing her likeness with just a few strokes of his brush. Her almond-shaped eyes are blank, but somehow expressive. What was she thinking as she sat for him? I see some of Cezanne's geometric forms, and maybe a little Klimt in the girl's face. Ultimately, this painting is about the artist's vision, his way of seeing the world and translating it onto canvas. And in that way, it’s an invitation for us to see the world a little differently, too.