Yaelle Biro Knihy

Edited with the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, this catalog demonstrates how Modigliani’s partnership with his gallerist Paul Guillaume influenced his painting. Amedeo Modigliani, a Jewish-Italian painter, arrived in Paris in 1906. His meeting with Constantin Brancusi in 1909 inspired Modigliani to sculpt—almost exclusively—until 1914, when he met art dealer Paul Guillaume. He returned to painting and produced countless portraits from 1914 until his death in 1920. Modigliani painted prominent contemporaries such as Jean Cocteau and Max Jacob, but also unknown models and the women in his life, including writer Béatrice Hastings and painter Jeanne Hébuterne, his partner and the mother of his child. Guillaume encouraged Modigliani, rented him an atelier in Montmartre, promoted his paintings in Parisian art and literary circles and abroad, and bought, sold, and collected more than a hundred of his paintings, fifty drawings, and a dozen sculptures. Guillaume’s writings offer intimate insight into Modigliani, highlighting their rapport and shared interests in African art, literature, and poetry. Modigliani in turn immortalized Guillaume in four portraits. This volume accompanies an exhibition at the Musée de l’Orangerie (September 20, 2023–January 15, 2024).

Circulation and imitation are key factors in shaping the materialworld. The authors in this volume explore how technical knowledge,immaterial desires, and political agendas impact the production andconsumption of visual and material culture across times and places.Their essays map multidirectional transactions for cultural goods inwhich source countries can be positioned at the center.Rhapsodic – literally to stitch or weave songs – paired with objects – from thrown against – intertwines complexity and action. Rhapsodic objectsthus beckons to the layered narratives of the objects themselves, theirmaking, and their reception over time. The concept further underlinestheir potential to express creativity, generate emotion, and revealhistories – often tainted with violence.