Portrait of the Art Dealer Paul Guillaume Painting by Amedo Modigalini

Famous Art work & Drawing by Amedo Modigalini Portrait of the Art Dealer Paul Guillaume

Portrait of Paul Guillaume

Paul Guillaume was an ambitious young art dealer. He took interest in the works of Modigliani, especially his sculpture. At Montparnasse in Paris, Paul Guillaume introduced Modigliani to the sculptor Constantin Brancusi.

Modigliani depicted the art dealer and collector of African art Paul Guillaume through one of his most ambitious portraits. This work was characterized with the integration of Modigliani’s works into portraiture.

The artist has assured the identity of the sitter in this portrait by linguistic way as well as iconic. Dressed in typical bourgeois day garb - dark suit, white collar, knotted tie and black hat – the figure occupies the center of the canvas. His head is tilted slightly to one side. Somewhat top heavy, Guillaume’s slightly enlarged head, with its square jaw line and spread out face sits rather heavily on his slender body and sloping shoulders while his features are crowded into his face. A large expanse of painted flesh is vivid on either side of his narrow eyes.

Modigliani has included in the canvas, other than his own signature, name of the subject in faltering capitals. The shaky handwriting of the artist serves as an index of his own presence.

Modigliani was at his most self critical at the time of painting this portrait. The power of his portraits lies in their capacity to render the tension between the generic and the specific.

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