Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)

Nu debout dates from circa 1910-11, during the period when Amedeo Modigliani was fulfilling his ambitions to be a sculptor, working with the encouragement of the Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi. It is a tribute to the importance and quality of this drawing, which provides an intriguing insight into Modigliani's working practice, that it has been so widely exhibited from the 1960s to the 1980s. Looking at Nu debout, the influence of Modigliani's sculptural pursuits, which sadly his ill health would force him to abandon shortly thereafter, is clear in the rigorous, stylised lines that comprise this mystical figure. Nu debout recalls Modigliani's heads, sculpted from stone, as well as his celebrated Caryatides. In this sense, it harkens to the traditions of sculpture that so influenced and inspired Modigliani, for instance ancient Greek, Etruscan and Khmer art as well as the tribal artefacts from Africa that were to hold such sway over many of his contemporaries.

The pared-back reduction of forms to their simplest, rawest essence can be seen in this figure, which comprises an almost geometric accumulation of diagonal lines, circles and ovals. There is a deliberate and emphatic rigidity which underscores the link to the sculptures. Paul Alexandre, Modigliani's great early supporter, would discuss this with his son Noël: 'In his drawings, there is invention, simplification and purification of form. That is why African art appealed to him. Modigliani had reconstructed the lines of the human face in his own way by fitting them into primitive patterns. He enjoyed any attempt to simplify line and was interested in it for his personal development' (Alexandre, quoted in Modigliani: The Melancholy Angel, exh. cat., London & Paris, 2002, p. 144).