Inspired by the Jewish Museum’s current exhibition, Modigliani: Unmasked, this talk at Darien Library seeks to appreciate the beauty and significance of Amedeo Modigliani’s art.

A sculptor at heart, Modigliani’s practice remained forever inflected by the lens of this medium and driven by global influences from across the centuries.

Melding disparate plastic traditions from Africa and Ancient Greece with traits from Southeast Asian sculpture and Italian Renaissance painting, Modigliani probed and celebrated the concept of “otherness,” a label with special resonance for him as both a foreigner and a Jew.

From his arrival in Paris in 1906 until his untimely death in 1920 at the age of 35, the impoverished and famously charming Italian artist found a true spiritual home in the bohemian community of Montparnasse, among a stylistically and culturally diverse group of poets and painters from all over Eastern Europe and as far away as Mexico and Japan.

Together, we will explore the ever-shifting kaleidoscope of identity, ethnicity, and imagery that was Modigliani’s world.

The Darien Library is proud to cosponsor this event with the Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County. Refreshments will be served. Can’t make the live event? Check out the video recording at DarienLibrary.tv.

About the Presenter

Larissa Bailiff is a specialist in modern French art and social history. Formerly an associate educator at MoMA, she continues to offer tours and courses at the museum.

For the last three years, she has also worked for Boulevard Arts, an immersive arts technology company, where she creates cultural content for virtual and mixed reality platforms.