Braque and Modigliani
Georges Braque
Georges Braque, born 1882, was at the forefront of the revolutionary art movement of Cubism. His work, throughout his life, focused on still life and means of viewing objects from various perspectives through colour, line and texture. His earliest paintings were made in the Fauvist style and it was these more colourful works which most of us preferred. He began developing a Cubist style after meeting Picasso and the two artists became good friends. Braque is remembered mostly for his use of collage.
Amedeo Modigliani
Modigliani was the youngest of four children born to Jewish parents in Livorno, Italy in 1884.At a young age he was introduced to literature, poetry, philosophy and the visual arts. In 1885 he contracted the first of several illnesses. After being diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1901 he recuperated in Southern Italy and there visited museums and galleries, becoming familiar with classical Italian painting and sculpture. A central participant in the Ecole de Paris, he modernised two popular themes of art - the portrait and the nude. His portraits are characterised by elongated proportions and mask like faces showing the influence of African art. His nudes scandalised audiences at the time. Although his work was not commercially successful during his lifetime, they became increasingly popular after his death and he is now amongst the celebrated artists of the twentieth century.