Jeanne Hébuterne in the Month of July, 1917, Our Daughter Met an Italian Painter Named Amedeo Modigliani, of Leghorn [Livorno], Who Lived in Paris

ART AND IMAGES IN PSYCHIATRY

SECTION EDITOR: JAMES C. HARRIS, MD Jeanne Hébuterne In the month of July, 1917, our daughter met an Italian painter named Amedeo Modigliani, of Leghorn [Livorno], who lived in Paris. They fell in love.... Notarized declaration by M and Mme Hébuterne, March 28, 19231(p116)

EANNE HÉBUTERNE (1898-1920) WAS 19 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE toNice.TheZborowskis,Jeanneandhermother,andModiglianirented met Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) at the students’ carni- an apartment together. But Jeanne was pregnant, relations between val in Paris, France. She attended the Académie Colarossi, Modigliani and Mme Hébuterne deteriorated, and he moved to a ho- J an art school established in the 19th century as an alterna- tel. On November 29, their daughter, Jeanne, was born. He wrote to tive to the more conservative French national school of fine arts. He his mother that, “The baby is well and so am I....Iamnotsurprised was 33 years old and an aspiring artist. Their backgrounds were strik- at your feeling like a grandmother, even outside the bonds of mat- ingly different. Her family was Roman Catholic, and she lived at home rimony.”2(p91-92) By the end of June, Jeanne and Modigliani returned with her parents at 8 bis rue Amyot. Her father was an accountant to Paris, where he resumed his drinking, often with his friend Mau- and her brother a painter. She was a serious, intelligent young artist rice Utrillo (1883-1955). Although Zborowski arranged an exhibit with a “strong personality.”1(p88) Her hair was a chestnut color with in London at the Hill Gallery that received good reviews, there was reddish lights; its contrast with her pale complexion led her friends too little money. Modigliani was seriously ill with tuberculosis, but to nickname her “Coconut” (Figure). he continued to drink and carouse; Jeanne frequently brought him Modigliani led the bohemian life to its fullest in Paris, abusing al- home from bars or from the police station. After she again became cohol and drugs and having numerous affairs with his models. He was pregnant (thumbnail), they placed their baby in care with a nurse in a Sephardic Italian Jew from the Tuscan port city of Livorno on the the country and visited her regularly. west coast of Italy.2 Family legend has it that, knowing he was dying, Modigliani asked Modiglianiwasanavidreaderandwas Jeanne to follow him to the grave “so that I can have my favorite model influenced by his maternal grandfather, in Paradise and with her enjoy eternal happiness.”1(p98) As his illness Issac Garsin, who was deeply interested progressed, Modigliani was taken to the Hospital de la Charité in Paris in philosophy and history; he claimed a with severe headaches and cough; he died of tuberculous meningitis distant relationship to Spinosa. At age 11 on January 24, 1920.3 Jeanne came to the hospital for one last look years,Modiglianibecameseriouslyillwith and was taken to her parents’ home. There a violent argument ensued pleurisy and at age 16 years experienced about what was to be done with her now that he was gone. Seeing her a recurrence with fever and hemoptysis, emotional state, her brother slept in her fifth-floor room that night. leading his doctors to diagnose tubercu- Toward morning, she leapt from the window, killing herself and her losis. Earlier, at age 14 years, during a life- unborn child. The family refused to bring her body into their home, threatening bout of typhoid fever, he had and it was taken by handcart to Modigliani’s studio, where it lay un- expressed an interest in art and studying til friends came to claim it. drawing,andhismotherhadagreed.Now Modigliani’s brother Emanuele, a well-known Socialist leader, she took him on a trip to visit art galler- wired to Paris to bury him like a prince.2 The art community turned ies in Naples and Capri to facilitate his re- Figure. Jeanne Hébuterne, out with a long procession in his honor, and even the police who had cuperation. Later he attended classes at 1918. Private collection. arrested him came out to salute him.4 Jeanne’s parents refused to have the Florence Academy under Giovanni her buried near him, but 5 years later, his brother Emanuele pre- Fattori in 1902 and at the Institute of Fine Arts in Venice in 1903. In vailed and Jeanne and Amedeo were placed together. The tomb is 1906, he joined Picasso and others as part of the vibrant Paris art com- inscribed, “Finally They Sleep Together.”2(p206) Their daughter was munity, initially seeking to become a sculptor and studying with Con- raised by his unmarried sister, Margherita; as an adult, Jeanne wrote stantin Brancusi (1876-1957). Between 1910 and 1914, he made stone the story of her father’s life.1 sculptures that were influenced by African and Asian masks. The physi- Modigliani’s surviving work includes more than 400 oil paint- cal effort of carving in stone and the stone dust it produced worsened ings, drawings, watercolors, and gouaches and more than 20 stone his respiratory problems, resulting in his return to painting. After 1914, sculptures. Even in the paintings he created in his final months, his interest in sculpture influenced his unique style in painting, char- despite his illness, he maintained his creative spark. One of those 5 acterized by an elongation of form, a purity of line, a rhythmic linear last paintings, of Jeanne, graces this cover. style, and a sense of sculptural mass. James C. Harris, MD Jeanne adored Modigliani, and by June 1917, they had rented a third-floor studio together on the rue de la Grande Chaumière. She REFERENCES became his favorite model, posing for at least 20 portraits, but un- like those of his other models, none were nudes. Her family ob- 1. Modigliani J. Modigliani: Man and Myth. New York, NY: Orion Press; 1958. jected to their relationship, but she was devoted to him. His agent, 2. Mann C. Modigliani. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1980. 3. Stirling G. Tuberculosis and 19th and 20th century painters. Proc R Coll Physi- Léopold Zborowski, hoped that Jeanne might reform his disorderly cians Edinb. 1997;27:221-226. life and this would result in his greater productivity. 4. Chaplin P. Into the Darkness Laughing: The Story of Modigliani’s Last Mistress, Jeanne Hébuterne. London, England: Virago Press; 1990. His declining health and the extension of World War I to Paris 5. Klein M, ed. Modigliani: Beyond the Myth. New York, NY: The Jewish Museum with regular bombings of the city resulted in arrangements to go south and Yale University Press; 2004.

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