Modigliani: A Large-Scale Study Sheds Light on His Myths and Ghosts

The Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (Research and Restoration Center of the Museums of France, C2RMF), in collaboration with the Musées Nationaux de France (National Museums of France), has conducted an exhaustive investigation of the works in their possession by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), the results are being presented in an exhibition at the LaM, the Musée d’Art Moderne, d’Art Contemporain et d’Art Brut in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, near Lille. This is the second time such a comprehensive investigation into an artist has been carried out in France, after the one in 1999 on Vincent Van Gogh —which put a swift end to the wild rumors that had been circulating in museums and auction rooms about "fake Van Goghs". Eleven institutions, including the Centre Pompidou, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and the Musée Picasso, took part in this new study entitled "The Secrets of Modigliani". Three sculptures and twenty-seven paintings were autopsied, four of them on cardboard and one on paper, and two of which were considered to be copies. At the end of three years' work, a symposium was held in March, and the publication is expected at the end of the year. This provides particularly welcome…