“Jeanne Hébuterne with Hat and Necklace”
A few months back, I put up a self-portrait by the French artist, Jeanne Hébuterne. Today, I am putting up a painting of her as seen through her lover’s eyes…
This oil on canvas painting, titled “Jeanne Hébuterne with Hat and Necklace”, is by the Italian-Jewish Expressionist artist, Amedeo Modigliani, from 1917. Hébuterne met Modigliani this same year, when she was modelling for aspiring artists of that day, as well as attending art school herself. Soon after their meeting, Modigliani ended the relationship he was currently in, and Hébuterne moved in with him. She is prominently wearing the same blue necklace as seen in her self-portrait from 1916.
Modigliani’s reputation as a vagabond of disrepute made Hébuterne’s family disapprove of the relationship, though that did not stop them. Hébuterne moved in with Modigliani and became his muse. She is the subject of over 20 of his paintings during this period.
Just three years later, after the birth of a daughter and while pregnant with their second child, Modigliani would die from tuberculosis. He had been fighting this battle for most of his life, but his excessive drug and alcohol use exacerbated it. The very next day, Hébuterne, completely distraught, walked backwards out of the fifth story window of her parents’ home, killing herself and their unborn child. She was only 21 years old.
“Jeanne Hébuterne with Hat and Necklace” is currently in a private collection.
For more on Amedeo Modigliani, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
