Luisa Cerano celebrates International Women’s Day with a collection that places the works of artist Amedeo Modigliani in a new context
The male gaze – in almost no situation does he encounter people who read like women in their daily lives. Even during a relaxed Sunday visit to the museum, it accompanies visitors in the form of works installed on the wall and sculptures that occupy the space. Names of artists who have already disappeared, such as Pablo Picasso or Salvador Dalí, sell illustrated books and tickets for exhibitions en masse, but at the same time continue to sell a more than questionable image of women. Power imbalances or the objectification or fetishization of the female body are aspects that should not be ignored when looking at and negotiating the artwork of names like these. So it’s more than pleasing to see that there were apparently exceptions.
According to recent research, Amedeo Modigliani, painter, designer and sculptor, one of the most important names of the early 20th century, was one of these. The new special exhibition “Modigliani. Modern Views” at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart re-evaluates Modigliani’s female image and shows the painter as a narrator of growing female self-confidence in the years before and during the First World War. Modigliani’s actions must also be re-evaluated in this context. In line with the most recent research, it becomes clear that Modigliani does not reduce his models to objects, but rather approaches them in a relationship characterized by equality. This recently discussed view is not only relevant on today’s International Women’s Day, but also on every other day of the year.
