Amedeo Modigliani the Jew

By Jonathan Shih

“My name is Modigliani. I am a Jew.”

That was how the artist Amedeo Modigliani would introduce himself to his fellow Parisians in the early 1900s. It was a risky declaration. At a time when ethnic nationalism was surging in France, Jews were frequently subjected to racist remarks and outlandish conspiracy theories.

The Tuscan-born painter found himself in an unusual situation.  Many of his colleagues, like Marc Chagall and Chaïm Soutine, had accents and appearances that Parisians regarded as unmistakably Jewish. Meanwhile, Modigliani’s name and features “passed” as ethnic Italian, and he was fluent in French.

This meant he could have easily concealed his identity. And yet, he refused.

Throughout his brief career, Modigliani embraced being an outsider. He painted dignified portraits of people whose ethnic backgrounds were viewed by some as undesirable, including Jews, Roma, and Slavs. Influenced by art movements from around the world, he cultivated a style that was undeniably his own.

While French society was becoming increasingly fixated on ideas of “racial purity” and Western European superiority, Modigliani was one of several artists who incorporated art styles from beyond the Western world. He fervently studied art from African and Southeast Asian cultures, which, like his own culture, were often dismissed or exoticized in European thought.

Modigliani died of tuberculosis at 35, in poverty and obscurity. It was only years after his death that his work garnered more appreciation, making him one of the most recognizable artists of his time.

“Always speak out,” he once wrote in a letter to a friend, “and keep forging ahead.”