Léopold Zborowski

Polish, 1889 - 1932

Explore Selected Works

Shown from the lap up, a cleanshaven man with black hair and dark clothes faces us as he sits with his hands resting together in his lap in this stylized, vertical portrait painting. The man's features, clothing, and the room are painted with areas of mottled color with visible brushstrokes, so many details are indistinct. The man has peach-colored skin, and his facial features are outlined. He has dark eyes that look at us or slightly up, under thin, arched brows. One eye is a little higher than the other, and the two halves of his long face do not quite match. He has a wide nose, and his full, dark rose-pink lips are closed. His hair is parted down the middle and is brushed down to meet his ears. He has an elongated neck, and his narrow shoulders slope down. He wears black pants and a black coat over a dark teal-green vest. A white shirt is visible along his neckline, and an area of black could be the knot of a tie. He holds the fingers of one hand in his other, both hands resting in his lap. A loosely painted, brown table sits next to the man to our right, and an area of slate blue and white could be a glass on the table. A vertical line in the background behind the man, to our right, probably indicates the corner of the room. The walls are painted with strokes of smoke gray, ocean blue, and some parchment white. The artist signed the work in dark letters in the upper right corner, “modigliani.”
Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, 1918, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.47

Chaim Soutine

Amedeo Modigliani · 1918 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.47

Henri Edmond Cross, Calanque des Antibois, 1891/1892, oil on canvas, John Hay Whitney Collection, 1982.76.2

Calanque des Antibois

Henri Edmond Cross · 1891/1892 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1982.76.2

Shown from the lap up, a woman with peach-colored skin sits leaning sideways against the back of a wooden chair with her head tilted to our left on her long neck in this vertical, stylized portrait. The painting is done mostly with areas of mottled color outlined in delicate black lines. The top of her head and her left elbow, on our right, are slightly cut off by the edges of the canvas. Her copper-red hair is parted in the middle and puffs down and around her hears. Her elongated oval face and delicate features are simply drawn. Pencil-thin, nearly straight, grayish eyebrows float above almond-shaped eyes entirely filled in with black. A faint gray line forms her elongated nose. Her small rose pink, pursed lips are slightly darker than the faint blush on her cheeks. Her jet-black, long-sleeved dress has a high waist and a wide, diaphanous gray collar at the rounded neckline. Her left elbow, on our right, drapes over the top of the spindles making up the back of the chair so her hand rests near the gray collar. Her other arm rests by her side. The background is a foggy swirl of sage green and elephant gray. Two faint, thin, parallel, horizontal gray lines that run across the background may suggest a baseboard.
Amedeo Modigliani, Woman with Red Hair, 1917, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.176

Woman with Red Hair

Amedeo Modigliani · 1917 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.176

Shown from the knees up, a woman wearing a black dress is painted with areas of mottled color in this vertical painting. The woman’s body faces us, her shoulders sloping steeply down from her elongated neck. She sits with her hands in her lap, and she looks down and to our left. Her peach-colored, long, narrow face comes to a point at her chin, and her cheeks are flushed pink. Her almond-shaped eyes, curved brows, long nose, and closed lips are outlined with gray. Her brown hair is pulled up and back, and short bangs brush her forehead. A gold-colored disk at the point of the dress’s V-neck could be a brooch. Two parallel black lines suggest a chair rail running behind the woman’s elbows. The background is painted with visible strokes of fog gray and moss green above the rail and darker, elephant gray below. The artist signed the upper right corner, “modigliani.”
Amedeo Modigliani, Café Singer, 1917, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.44

Café Singer

Amedeo Modigliani · 1917 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.44

Bibliography

1981

  • Gee, Malcolm. Dealers, Critics and Collectors of Modern Painting. New York and London, 1981.

1994

  • Les Peintres de Zborowski exh. cat. Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, 1994:9-16

1996

  • Turner, Jane, ed. The Dictionary of Art. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 33:626-627.