A Comparison Between The Works Of Amedeo Modigliani And Jacques Villon :: essays research papers

Italian-born Cubist painter, AmedeoModigliani (1884-1920) and the French, Jacques Villon (1875-1963), bothpainted vibrant and expressive portraits during the early twentieth-century.In this case, the chosen portraits are Modiglianis Portrait of Mrs. Hastings,1915 and Villons Mme. Fulgence, 1936. two of these compositions are portraits.Nothing is of more importance than the sitter herself. The female sitterin Modiglianis piece, sits in an almost dizzying pose with a twist inher drawn-out neck (a Modigliani trademark), a stylized and mask-like headand a columnar neck. All of which give the sitter a blank andashen expression. She looks at the viewer, head-on with a most piercingair in her eyes. In Villons case, his female sitter has been createdsolely with the use of laye sanguine touchs and a very random synthetist insinuatetechnique (a similar technique the post-impressionist painter Gaugin utilize).Modigliani outlines his figure moreso in black than Villon.Mme. Fulgences age is u nderstood by the strong dynamic colour qualitythat has been used to break her face apart. In a way, these colourfuldivisions act as wrinkles. For instance, the chunk of layered pinkon her lip creates a scowl and the heavily applied white on her nose helpsit to seem upright a snobbish upturn. Colours such as the orange,have been used to highlight her left organization and only visible ear.With these effects, the viewer sees Mme. Fulgence as a very proper andposh (if you will) woman. Bitterness is only a common linkage withthe other attributes. Modiglianis Hastings on the other hand seemsto be an intense woman of a compassionate nature. Both of these pieceshave relied heavily on the expressive and wild use of colour to createemotional expressions and unerring form.Both of these portraits are createdusing oil paints--Modiglianis on cardboard and Villons on canvas.The most important element that draws their work out-of-door from the mainstreamis their heavy application of paint. Alth ough they both apply theircolour liberally, Modiglianis strokes are thick, jagged, and for the mostpart random. His brushstrokes are also particularly long, whereasVillons are short and brief. Modigliani uses monochromatic huesof red to create the prominent colour of the piece and like Villon, hehas used a very vague background to express the importance of his sitter.Colour is of oppose importance in both pieces as it draws the viewer inand allows the viewers eyes to be brought around the piece. Modiglianihas split his background from top to bottom, using red and strokes of burned-outsienna at first, then an auburn and deeper red for the bottom.