Portrait of Margherita
Margherita is shown with the diagonal tilt, flattened oval face and small closed mouth typical of Modigliani's mature portraiture, a style he settled into once he had turned from sculpture to painting exclusively around 1915[1]. She is not identified beyond her first name, which was common practice for Modigliani when a sitter was a passing acquaintance rather than a documented friend or patron. During his working years in Paris and later in the south of France, Modigliani painted whoever was available to him, arranged in some cases through his dealer Léopold Zborowski, who found local people willing to sit for the artist[2]. Margherita's portrait reads as one of these: a fast, confident likeness made without the surrounding paperwork of provenance, exhibition history or biography that survives for Modigliani's better-documented sitters, such as his dealer's own household.
Where it is held
No collection or ownership history is documented for this work.
A first name, no further record
Painting sitters by first name only was common for Modigliani, particularly for women who were not part of his inner circle of named friends, dealers and fellow artists[1]. Margherita's portrait carries no further identifying information in the surviving record: no surname, no occupation, no connection to a patron or gallery that would allow her to be placed within Modigliani's documented circle. This is consistent with the wider pattern in his output, where a large proportion of sitters, particularly from his most productive years between 1916 and 1919, remain unidentified or only partially identified today.
Style and likely period
The stylistic hallmarks visible here, the long neck, the flat elliptical face, the almond eyes and small mouth, place the work within Modigliani's mature period, after he abandoned stone-carving around 1915 due to wartime material shortages and turned to painting as his primary practice[1]. His palette in these years was deliberately limited, used to emphasise the long, rhythmic curves of his figures rather than local colour or descriptive detail[1]. That restraint is part of what makes individual sitters within this body of work hard to date precisely without supporting documentation: the visual vocabulary changed slowly and consistently across several years, so a portrait's style alone rarely narrows its date beyond a broad range.
Common questions
Who was Margherita?
No surname, biography or connection to Modigliani's documented circle survives for this sitter. She is known only by her first name.
When was this portrait likely painted?
The mature style points to sometime between roughly 1916 and 1919, when Modigliani had turned fully to painting and settled into the visual vocabulary seen here, though no exact date is documented.
Why is so little known about this sitter?
Modigliani painted many people outside his documented circle of dealers and close friends, often working quickly and without leaving behind provenance records, which is why numerous sitters from these years remain unidentified.
Where is this painting now?
No collection or ownership history is documented for this work.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following references, verified against the museum and public-domain image record for this work.
- [1] book Susie Hodge, Art Used for: this artwork.
- [2] book Amedeo Modigliani, Delphi Complete Paintings of Amedeo Modigliani (Illustrated) (Delphi Masters of Art Book 27) Used for: this artwork.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-09-03. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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