Louise 1917

This portrait of Louise, probably made in the late 1910s by Modigliani, it's like he conjured her from a dream. The blues and browns create a sense of quiet melancholy, punctuated by the bright, almost cartoonish, rosy cheeks. I can see Modigliani, standing there, brush in hand, trying to capture not just Louise’s likeness, but something deeper, something about her essence. What was she like, this woman? The eyes, those piercing blue almond shapes, seem to look right through you. You see echoes of his sculptural work in her elongated neck, and in the simplified forms of the face. I am reminded of other figurative painters like Picasso and Derain, who were similarly engaged in abstracting the human form. It’s all part of this grand conversation artists have across time.