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Lunia Czechowska signed 'Modigliani' (upper right) oil on canvasboard 18 1/8 x 14 7/8in. (46 x 38cm.) Painted circa 1917-18 PROVENANCE L‚opold Zborowski, Paris. Henri Bing, Paris. Lepoutre, Paris (before 1929). Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (no. 22306). Madame Bourdon, Paris; her sale, Guy Loudmer, Paris, 25 March 1990, lot 35 (FFr 22,500,000). Anon. sale, Briest, Paris, 28 November 1996, lot 33 (FFr 9,000,000) where purchased by the present owner. LITERATURE A. Pfannstiel, Modigliani, Paris, 1929, pp. 30-31 (with incorrect measurements). A. Pfannstiel, Modigliani et son oeuvre, Paris, 1956, no. 185, p. 117. A. Ceroni, Amedeo Modigliani, Milan, 1958, no. 140, p. 66 (where dated 1918; wrongly catalogued as oil on canvas; illustrated). A. Ceroni & L. Piccioni, I dipinti di Modigliani, Milan, 1970, no. 172 (illustrated). J. Lanthemann, Modigliani 1884-1920: Catalogue raisonn‚, Barcelona, 1970, no. 234, p. 123 (where dated 1917; illustrated p. 222). F. Cachin & A. Ceroni, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Modigliani, Paris, 1972, no. 172 (where dated 1917; illustrated p. 96). C. Parisot, Modigliani catalogue raisonn‚, Vol. II, Florence, 1991, no. 23/1917, p. 309 (where catalogued as oil on paper; illustrated in colour p. 159). O. Patani, Amedeo Modigliani catalogo generale: dipinti, Milan, 1991, no. 177 (illustrated in colour p. 192). C. Parisot, Modigliani, Paris, 1992, p. 121 (where catalogued as oil on canvas; illustrated in colour). EXHIBITION London, Tate Gallery, Modern Italian Art: An Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture Held under the Auspices of the Amici di Brera and the Italian Institute, June - July 1950, no. 67 (where titled Portrait of Madame Czechowska ). Paris, Galerie Bernheim Jeune, Peintres de portraits, May - July 1952. Bern, Kunsthalle, Modigliani Campigli Sironi, 1955. Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Cent tableaux de Modigliani, 1958, no. 67 (where titled Madame Czechowska and dated 1918). Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Catalogue de l'exposition … la Fondation Pierre Gianadda, June - October 1990, no. 73 (illustrated in the catalogue p. 225). NOTES Painted in 1917-18, Lunia Czechowska is a portrait of one of Modigliani's most loyal and treasured friends. Although Modigliani never tasted the fruits of his success as an artist, never lived to see himself truly recognised, the story of his friendship with Lunia itself coincides with the creation of his fame and reputation. For it was while L‚opold Zborowski, this painting's first owner, was trying to establish himself as Modigliani's dealer that the artist met the woman who would become one of his main models. In her memoirs she recalls their first meeting. Modigliani saw the beautiful woman, sitting with Zborowski and her husband, home on leave from the front, and began drawing her with no regard for anyone else at the table. He then asked the shy girl out for the evening, causing her immense confusion. In her memoirs, she recalled Zborowski saving the day by saying that they already had plans, but that Modigliani was welcome to join them. Although Zborowski, for his own reasons, may have wanted Modigliani to come, the artist was put off, wanting only Lunia's company. Instead, he asked the intimidated girl to pose for a portrait the next day. Lunia's recollections of sitting for Modigliani are one of the most important records of the artist's work: 'I already knew from Zbo that he liked to drink while he painted. I shall never forget that first sitting. As the hours went along, I was no longer afraid of him. I can see him now, in his shirtsleeves, his hair ruffled, trying to capture my features on the canvas. From time to time, he stretched out his hand to a bottle of brandy. I saw that the alcohol was taking effect: he was getting excited; I no longer existed; he could only see his work now. He was so absorbed that he spoke to me in Italian. He painted with such violence that the painting fell on his head while he was leaning to see better. I was terrified' (Lunia, quoted in A. Ceroni, Amedeo Modigliani, Peintre, Milan, 1958, p. 21). Modigliani quickly tried to console his frightened model, and she became one of his enduring friends as well as a favourite model. Lunia featured throughout the rest of his life: she was a witness to his engagement, helped bring up his child and supported him in many dark moments. Modigliani's paintings of her appear to reflect her importance in his life as well as the extent to which she embodied his ideal of beauty, and it is no coincidence that the first painting by the artist to enter a French museum was the work of the same title in the Mus‚e de Grenoble. Lunia's record of the violence with which Modigliani painted cuts to the heart of the strange and absorbing character of his work. While Lunia Czechowska is marked by the elegance and simplicity that makes his work so enduring, the paintwork is visibly tumultuous. The impasto gives the painting a textural feel, giving Lunia an almost plastic existence. Meanwhile the contrast between the dark background and the sensuously rendered flesh and white of her blouse make her appear as a ray of light in the dark of the room. Her supine neck appears to fulfil an aesthetic that is not modern or Western, but is more universal, more true. Like his earlier Caryatide works, there is a timeless monumentality in this work, despite the intimacy both of the friendship and the scale. While Lunia's husband was at the front, she stayed with the Zborowskis. Her husband and Zbo had been childhood friends. Hanka Zborowska was encouraged by her husband to pose for the artist, as he had only a wealth of enthusiasm to rely on and could afford no models while paying his artists. Lunia also provided the artist with a model where Hanka's fleshy sensuality resulted in some of Modigliani's most absorbing nudes, Lunia's beauty created graceful, curving figures that cut to the core of the timeless elegance Modigliani sought to capture. Here, however, Lunia's mouth is open, her eyes drooping as she looks at the artist in a manner that hints at more than the Platonic relationship they in fact enjoyed, and the viewer is forced to wonder, while enjoying her gaze, whether this was wishful thinking on the part of the pretty girl or the dashing Bohemian painting her.