The artwork, titled “Portrait of Moise Kisling,” was created by Amedeo Modigliani in 1916 in Paris, France. This oil on canvas painting belongs to the Expressionism art movement and represents a portrait genre. It is currently housed at the Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art (LaM) in Lille, France.
In this remarkable piece, Modigliani masterfully captures the essence of the subject with his distinctive style. The figure is rendered with marked elongation and exaggerated features, common in Modigliani’s portraits. The subject dons a blue shirt with a white collar, set against a resiliently somber background that contrasts sharply with the prominence of the subject’s facial features and attire. The use of bold lines creates a sense of intensity and emotional depth, characteristic of Expressionism. The simplicity in the color palette and deliberate distortion of proportions conveys an intimate yet abstract representation, embodying Modigliani’s innovative approach to portraiture.
