Nude Bust 1915

Here we have Modigliani’s "Nude Bust", made around 1915 with pencil and gouache on paper, a process where he lays down these juicy red marks. He must have been driven by an urgency to capture the essence of the figure before him. Look closely, and you will notice how the surface is built up with layers of short, directional strokes. The paint is opaque and the brushwork is clearly visible. Those distinct marks and gestures shape our emotional experience of the artwork. The stark red contrasts with the bare paper, creating a sense of rawness. The lines are not perfectly smooth; there is an energetic, almost agitated quality to them. Modigliani’s work, like that of his contemporary Matisse, is unafraid to embrace ambiguity, suggesting multiple interpretations rather than fixed meanings.