Modigliani
A Life
By Meryle Secrest
(Alfred A. Knopf; 387 pages; $35)
You can't get more mythical than Amedeo Modigliani.
Modigliani (1884-1920), a pal of Picasso and the bohemian crowd in Paris, was a dazzlingly handsome Italian from a once-wealthy Jewish family in Livorno who recited Dante when drunk, which was much of the time, and paid for his meals and drinks with sketches when he was broke, which was all of the time.
Determined to be a sculptor, Modigliani surrendered to a weak constitution and painted portraits - now instantly recognizable, mostly artists, dealers and winsome swan-necked women. The work was taking off commercially after World War I when. . .
[read the entire article below.] This first appeared in the Sunday SF Chronicle Examiner in the book review section.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/11/RVRF1I4F98.DTL#ixzz1GVW1iARu
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