Modigliani’s First Solo Exhibition
Léopold Zborowski, c. 1916.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
April 25, 2023
Cracking the Code
Zborowski asked me to put on an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Modigliani.
I agreed, of course.—Berthe Weill, proprietor of Galerie B. Weill [1]
There was a lot at stake for the poet-turned-art-dealer Léopold Zborowski. He had represented Modigliani for about a year―paying him a stipend and supplying him with materials and models―despite having little success in selling the works. Without a gallery of his own, Zborowski convinced Berthe Weill to host Modigliani’s first solo show at Galerie B. Weill in December 1917. Ultimately, this would be the artist’s only lifetime solo exhibition.
Scholars have been eager to identify the paintings that were included because a documented lifetime event would help establish a significant group of authentic works by the artist. Efforts have been complicated by the fact that the published checklist only has titles, many of which are vague; four of the works are simply called Nu (Nude).
New research reveals that there may be a way to determine which paintings Zborowski selected for this important occasion. In an article about the collection of the art critic Francis Carco, published shortly before the March 1925 auction of some of his works, the author André Warnod notes that Carco’s reclining nude by Modigliani was one that had been included in the 1917 exhibition. [2]
Carco’s nude, now titled Nude with Coral Necklace, is in the collection of the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. On the back of the painting is an inscription with the residential address of Léopold Zborowski and his companion, Anna (Hanka): 3 [rue] Joseph Bara, Paris. (below) The couple had moved to this apartment in the left bank neighborhood of Montparnasse by early 1917 and Modigliani often worked there. It has been reported that many of his nudes were painted in a room that the Zborowskis made available to him.
Nude with Coral Necklace, 1917 (reverse inscription)
Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
Research shows that a handful of other paintings have the same neatly written inscription, which typically appears in the upper left corner. Some are known only from photographic records or transcriptions made prior to disappearing behind a lining. If the inscription’s purpose was to document the location where the paintings were made, it is curious that many of Modigliani’s approximately thirty nudes do not have this marking. This raises the question about why some of the paintings bear the inscription at all.
One of the works on the Galerie B. Weill checklist—number 15— is Alice, a unique title for Modigliani that can only refer to the painting in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen. [3] The painting announces the young sitter’s name in block letters on the upper left corner of the front of the painting, while the reverse has the Joseph Bara inscription.
Given what we know then about Nude with Coral Necklace being shown at Galerie B. Weill and the inclusion of Alice on the checklist, we can consider the other inscribed works as possibly having been shown in 1917. Following the order of the checklist, the paintings listed below can be tentatively identified as follows:
Galerie B. Weill, exhibition checklist (left) and
works with the Joseph Bara address noted on the reverse (right)
2) (or 24): Portrait du poète L.
Léopold Zborowski; Ceroni 158 [4]
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
6) Le garçon rouge
Not published in Ceroni [5]
location unknown
13) La femme dormante
likely Nude; Ceroni 186 [6]
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Otherwise this was one of the four paintings titled Nu. (See below)
15) Alice
June 1917; Ceroni 69 [7]
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
17) (or 18, 30, 31) Nu
Nu assis à la chemise; Ceroni 191 [8]
Lille Métropole Musée d'art moderne, d'art contemporain et d'art brut, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France
20) La femme en blouse marine
Ceroni 125 [9]
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
23) Portrait de mademoiselle H.
Jeanne Hébuterne; Ceroni 173 [10]
location unknown
26) Femme au roses rouges
Lolotte, June 1917; Ceroni 139 [11]
Centre Pompidou, Paris
30) (or 17, 18, 31) Nu
Nude with Coral Necklace, 1917; Ceroni 185 [12]
Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College,
Oberlin Ohio
The story of the chaotic start to Modigliani’s first solo exhibition has been told often. The vernissage began at 2pm on Monday, December 3rd. The provocative nudes visible through the gallery’s street-level window attracted the attention of passersby, quickly drawing a crowd. While accounts vary, all agree that the police were involved and the offending paintings were removed from public view.
As Zborowski prepared for his first endeavor as an exhibition organizer, he carefully selected a group of recent works that best represented his favorite artist. The paintings would be leaving his home, traveling to Weill’s gallery on the right bank, and Zborowski needed a way to mark his property. Noting his address on the canvas backs would firmly establish where the paintings had come from and where they should be returned in the event that they didn’t sell during the show’s four-week run.
Julia May Boddewyn
Imagining an Illustrated Catalogue
(paintings marked with the Joseph Bara address)
L to R, Top to bottom:
2) (or 24): Portrait du poète L. [Léopold Zborowski; Ceroni 158; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston];
6) Le garçon rouge [Not published in Ceroni; location unknown]
13) La femme dormante [likely Nude; Ceroni 186; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York]
15) Alice [June 1917; Ceroni 69; Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen]
17 (or 18, 30, 31) Nu. [Nude with Coral Necklace, 1917; Ceroni 185; Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
20) La femme en blouse marine [Ceroni 125; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice]
23) Portrait de mademoiselle H. [Jeanne Hébuterne; Ceroni 173; location unknown]
26) Portrait de femme aux roses rouges [Lolotte, June 1917; Ceroni 139; Centre Pompidou, Paris]
30 (or 17, 18, 31) Nu. [Nu assis à la chemise; Ceroni 191; Lille Métropole Musée d'art moderne, d'art contemporain et d'art brut, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France]
Endnotes
[1] Berthe Weill, Pow! Right in the Eye! Thirty Years Behind the Scenes of Modern French Painting, Lynn Gumpert, ed., trans. William Rodarmor (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2022), 101.
[2] André Warnod, “Collections d'écrivains: Francis Carco et la peinture modern,” Comœdia illustré (February 15, 1925): 4.
[3] Other works on the checklist with distinct titles that might have also been shown are:
4) La petite Lucienne [Ceroni 126]
8) Portrait de comte W. [Comte Wielhorski; Ceroni 151]
10) Marghareta [Margherita; Ceroni 129]
16) Eve [Nu debout; Ceroni 189]
20) Amaisa [Almaïsa; Ceroni 132]
[4] This painting was marked slightly differently than the others and originally bore a label with what appears to have been Zborowski’s name along with his address. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston website: https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/43850/leopold-zborowski?ctx=208dd4f371b8f184e17f1b053c2025f86a728186&idx=0
[5] The Evelyn Sharp Collection (New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1978), 62. Digitized and available on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/evelyns00solo/page/62/mode/2up?q=Modigliani
[6] The painting has been lined and the inscription, as confirmed by a transcription in the records of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, is no longer visible.
[7] Statens Museum for Kunst website: https://open.smk.dk/artwork/image/KMSr145?q=Modigliani&page=0
[8] Seated Nude with a Shirt, 1917, in Modigliani Up Close. Barbara Buckley, Simonetta Fraquelli, Nancy Ireson, and Annette King, eds., exh. cat. (Philadelphia: The Barnes Foundation. Distributed by Yale University Press, New Haven and London), 134.
[9] Inscription confirmed by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice.
[10] Sotheby's, New York, Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, May 5, 2010, lot 7; available online: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2010/impressionist-modern-art-evening-sale-n08633/lot.7.html?locale=en
[11] Inscription confirmed during the study conducted by the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (Research and Restoration Center of the Museums of France, C2RMF).
[12] Allen Memorial Art Museum website: https://allenartcollection.oberlin.edu/objects/12464/nude-with-coral-necklace?ctx=e56252a784e3e274b0c3a015b1eec7bd44ce1c11&idx=0