Around 1915 -1919 · Montparnasse, youth and modern portrait

Modigliani transforms his young models into silent presences, recognizable by the lengthening of the neck, the continuous contour and the inner gaze.

Modigliani's young models belong to the everyday world of Montparnasse: apprentices, boys in caps, anonymous young women or acquaintances of the painter. He looks neither for the worldly portrait nor the detailed anecdote. The body is installed frontally or slightly at an angle, then simplified by a continuous line which lengthens the neck, tilts the shoulders and gives the face an almost sculpted shape. The eyes, sometimes without pupils, do not erase individuality; they create an interior distance which contrasts with the very concrete presence of clothing. Cap, striped shirt, blue jacket or placed hands are enough to locate the model. The palette of ochres, earths, blues and muted reds bring the figure closer to the background while preserving its silhouette. Each portrait thus becomes the balance between resemblance, stylization and vulnerability. The "Young Modigliani models" selection notably compares The Young Apprentice and Young Man in the Cap. His reading favors atmosphere.

In Modigliani, youth is recognized less by age than by this fragile tension between presence and withdrawal.