Portrait of Celso Lagar
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Celso Lagar, a Spanish painter who arrived in Paris in 1911, sits for Amedeo Modigliani in this 1915 portrait. Lagar belonged to the first wave of foreign-born artists who converged on Montparnasse in the years before the First World War, a generation that included Chaïm Soutine and Marc Chagall alongside Modigliani himself, all of them outsiders to French artistic institutions by nationality even as they became central to the School of Paris[1]. Many of that generation passed through La Ruche, the cluster of studios in the Dantzig Passage that housed painters including Chagall, Soutine, Léger and Modigliani in overlapping years[1]. The painting was anonymously donated to the State of Israel and is held on permanent loan at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, catalogued there under object number L-B99.0437.
Where it is held
Held at Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.
Anonymously donated to the State of Israel; held on permanent loan at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (object number L-B99.0437).
An émigré generation in Montparnasse
Lagar arrived in Paris in 1911, joining a cohort of foreign-born painters who shared the isolation of being outsiders to the Parisian art establishment, whatever their individual styles: Soutine and Chagall were both Russian, Modigliani Italian, and none belonged neatly to a single movement or manifesto[1]. Many lived and worked at La Ruche, a former World's Fair pavilion rebuilt as artists' studios in Montparnasse, where painters on the upper floors included Chagall, Soutine, Léger and Modigliani[1]. This portrait, painted in 1915, sits within the same web of overlapping friendships and shared studios that produced much of Modigliani's portraiture of fellow artists in these years.
Common questions
Who was Celso Lagar?
A Spanish painter who moved to Paris in 1911 and became part of the first generation of foreign-born artists working in the Montparnasse district known as the School of Paris.
Where is this painting held?
At the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, on permanent loan following an anonymous donation to the State of Israel, catalogued under object number L-B99.0437.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following references, verified against the museum and public-domain image record for this work.
- [1] book Beckett, Wendy, The story of painting 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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