Modest Modigliani & Me
My sixth-grade artists were long overdue for a self-portrait
lesson. Sixth graders, as we all know, are pretty self-conscious about their
own “look,” so I thought they’d work well with Amedeo Modigliani’s style. His
abstraction, the lack of emotion in his portraits, and his ability to finish in
one or two sittings were drawing me to tackle this with them. This had sixth
grade written all over it!
Before we started, we discussed how most portraits of his time were painted to
look beautiful and noble; but he would paint them simply, sad, and using a modest
color palette. People didn’t like his work of them at first, but he later
became known as one of the 20th century’s greatest artists. We
talked color – we talked expression – we talked elongation – we peered into
mirrors – we tried to muster up as much angst as we could – we dug out the oil
pastels – and we ended up having fun! Yes, even the most reluctant among us had
fun as was successful.
These are the best self-portraits that I have ever had a class
do. There was no talk of them not “looking exactly like them,” that wasn’t in
the planning, and I think it gave them the ability to go beyond the fact that
they were the subject matter. With the elongated faces, cylindrical necks, almond shaped eyes, my students saw a new way to look at themselves. And in a way, as though Modigliani himself, were inspiring each of them…, to create without inhibition!
