Collection Comparisons: Modigliani’s Portraits

After moving to Paris in 1906, Amedeo Modigliani painted portraits of friends and artists, including Suzanne Valadon and Maurice Utrillo. He earned a reputation for thoughtful character studies of his contemporaries in Montparnasse. Many of these works reflect Modigliani’s interest in sculpture, expressed in the contours of the sitter’s features in Portrait of Mrs. Dorival.

Van Gogh, Yashima, and Lazzari

Today, March 30, we celebrate Vincent van Gogh’s birthday; 2015 is an especially poignant year as it marks 125 years since his death. Van Gogh, a painter whom Duncan Phillips admired throughout his entire collecting career, was celebrated for his modern expressionist painting style. Phillips wrote plenty about his technique, describing him uniquely as, “by turns, Japanese and Gothic.”

Putting the Process on the Wall: Ellsworth Kelly Maquette

A small installation of works on paper by Ellsworth Kelly was recently installed in conjunction with Ellsworth Kelly: Panel Paintings 2004-2009, currently on view through September 22. Included in these works is a small maquette by Kelly, done in preparation for a 2004 sculpture commissioned by the Phillips.