Head 1911 - 1912

Curator: Here we have Amedeo Modigliani’s sculpture, simply titled "Head," carved around 1911 or 1912, residing here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It's such a striking piece. Editor: It really is. The elongated features immediately strike me, almost like a face glimpsed in a dream, or maybe seen on an alien world. Curator: Precisely! Modigliani was deeply inspired by Cycladic and African art. He aimed, I feel, to capture an essence, not just a likeness. He wanted to carve stone as if revealing the soul hidden within. Imagine his hands shaping this limestone… Editor: Speaking of that limestone, its sourcing and texture tell a fascinating story, doesn’t it? I wonder about the specific quarry, the labour involved in extracting and transporting it to Paris where Modigliani was working. Each mark, each plane is a trace of human effort and geological history converging. Curator: Yes, and those repetitive geometric forms, bordering on abstraction, certainly resonate with Cubism, don’t they? He was working alongside some titans of the movement. It makes me wonder what sort of conversations, dialogues, experiments with perception informed such simplified forms. Editor: Absolutely, we’re looking at Modernism in motion. And his particular contribution involved a negotiation of artisanal labor and high art aspirations. I can just imagine the conversations, debates with contemporaries surrounding these kinds of works! Carving also puts him within a certain history of object-making. Curator: I also think it invites introspection. The blank, almond-shaped eyes prompt me to fill in the story myself. It transcends gender, place, or time. Timeless, almost. Do you sense that too? Editor: It does. The sculpture operates beyond a simple likeness. The materials involved in producing a sculpture like "Head" speak volumes about his engagement with, and departure from, classical sculptural traditions, especially if we see it in relation to the labor it demanded, and continues to demand even now for us to exhibit. It is one single head, but speaks about multiplicity. Curator: Thinking about it all now, I keep picturing Modigliani seeking the poetic soul within inert stone. That struggle, perhaps, makes it eternally captivating. Editor: I am mostly curious about what sort of labor went into making "Head," and how this head continues to generate so many kinds of symbolic labors for us today!