A new film about Amedeo Modigliani, directed by Johnny Depp, Modigliani – Three Days on the Wing of Madness, is released this week. Based on a play by Dennis McIntyre, this drama portrays 72 hours in the artist’s life, as he navigates relationships, financial struggles, police scrutiny, and a pivotal meeting with a renowned collector.
Modigliani was born on 12 July 1884 in Livorno, a Tuscan port city more aligned with trade than the creative arts. His early years were defined by illness and reduced circumstances—tuberculosis and financial instability left him in a state of permanent vulnerability, something manifested in both his work and reputation.
By 1906, he had moved to Paris, then the global city for artistic pursuits. While contemporaries broke apart from and dove into abstraction, Modigliani maintained a stricter focus: the human figure, front and centre, pared down but never diminished. His portraits—elongated, pared back, often inscrutable—resisted narrative and instead held viewers in a kind of mute confrontation. The influence of African sculpture and archaic Greek stylisation is evident, but what he took from those sources was formal rather than conceptual.
Modigliani moved between circles—Picasso, Brancusi, Utrillo, Soutine and others—but kept himself just outside the core of any one movement. He flirted with sculpture early on, partly under Brancusi’s influence, but abandoned it by 1914, citing both health concerns and the practical impossibility of carving stone in the cramped studios he inhabited. From then on, painting became the only real option.
By 1915, his portraits had settled into the language we now associate with his name: empty eyes, stretched proportions, minimal background. But what appears stylised was not affectation. It was, by most accounts, the result of constant refinement and visual logic. His female nudes, painted between 1916 and 1919, caused a scandal when first shown. They retain their charge even now—not for provocation, but for their density of attention. The bodies are relaxed but not passive; the gaze is direct but not theatrical.
Modigliani remained largely outside the commercial gallery system of the time. Dealers were reluctant, and collectors were uncertain. Paintings were often exchanged for lodging, food, or medicine. Despite that, Modigliani’s work did not waver to suit tastes or markets.
His personal life was chaotic but not unusually so for his time and company. Accounts vary, but the picture that emerges is of someone intermittently volatile, often intoxicated, physically fragile, yet highly focused when working. His partner in his final years, Jeanne Hébuterne, was 21 when they met. She appears in many of his final portraits—still, reflective, always looking slightly elsewhere.
Modigliani died in January 1920, aged 35. Jeanne, eight months pregnant, died the next day by suicide.
In death, he became more visible. His paintings now occupy museum walls across continents. The market, slow in life, corrected posthumously. But the work itself doesn’t demand myth. It holds its space quietly, without reaching. Modigliani painted people without decoration or disguise and, in doing so, removed both sentiment and spectacle. He saw no need to look away.
Modigliani – Three Days on the Wing of Madness is in U.K. cinemas from July 11. Special previews in cinemas nationwide on July 10th. A discussion with Johnny Depp, Riccardo Scamarcio, art critic Waldemar Januszczak, and British artist Polly Morgan will be recorded at Tate Modern.
Top 10 Highest Auction Prices for Amedeo Modigliani
“Nu Couché (Sur le côté gauche)” (1917) holds the artist’s auction record at $170.4 million (Sotheby’s New York, 2015). This voluptuous reclining nude, painted during Modigliani’s most productive year, exemplifies his revolutionary approach to the female form and remains the most expensive pre-war artwork ever sold at auction.
“Nu Couché (à la blouse)” (1917) followed closely at $157.2 million (Christie’s New York, 2018). Another masterpiece from his groundbreaking 1917 nude series, its sale confirmed the extraordinary demand for Modigliani’s most daring compositions.
“La Belle Romaine” (1917) achieved $68.9 million (Sotheby’s New York, 2010). This arresting portrait showcases Modigliani’s signature style – elongated features and hypnotic eyes – that came to define early 20th-century modernism.
The limestone sculpture “Tête” (1911-1912) reached $70.7 million (Christie’s Paris, 2014), making it the artist’s most valuable three-dimensional work. These rare sculpted heads reflect Modigliani’s fascination with African art and architectural form.
“Nu Couché (Sur le côté droit)” (1917) sold for $67.4 million (Sotheby’s London, 2023), demonstrating how the artist’s nudes consistently command eight-figure sums across different auction houses and markets.
“Jeanne Hébuterne (au foulard)” (1919) brought $42.8 million (Christie’s New York, 2022). These poignant late portraits of his doomed lover reveal a softer, more intimate side to Modigliani’s typically stylised approach.
“Portrait de Jeanne Hébuterne” (1918) realised $38.5 million (Sotheby’s New York, 2016). Painted during their turbulent relationship, these works gain added emotional resonance from their tragic backstory.
“Jeune fille rousse (Jeanne Hébuterne)” (1918) fetched $37.2 million (Christie’s London, 2015). The unusual reddish tones in this portrait make it distinctive among his depictions of Hébuterne.
The early “L’Amazone” (1909) went for $34.8 million (Sotheby’s New York, 2021). Its angular, sculptural qualities show Modigliani transitioning from his stone-carving period to painting.
“Portrait de Baranowski” (1918) achieved $32.8 million (Phillips London, 2019). This melancholic depiction of a Polish poet exemplifies the artist’s mature portrait style with its geometric simplification of form. Top Photo: Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920) in his studio in Paris. Public domain image (detail)
The auction market favours Modigliani’s 1917 nudes above all, with three reclining figures occupying the top five spots. His sculptural works, though rare, achieve remarkable prices due to their scarcity. Portraits of Jeanne Hébuterne maintain consistent eight-figure values, while early transitional works appeal to collectors interested in his artistic development. These results confirm Modigliani’s enduring status as one of modern art’s most commercially successful figures.