Amedeo Modigliani and Jeanne Hébuterne: a cursed love story

Born in 1884 in Livorno, Amedeo Modigliani decides to leave his homeland and move to the bohemian Paris at the age of 21. In the French capital, the whimsical painter attends his most important colleagues of the time: Picasso, Renoir, Gauguin, Utrillo, Gertrude Stein, etc.. It is here that Amedeo becomes the extravagant artist, who always wears a silk scarf instead of a tie and here he takes on the name of Modì, which is nothing more than a small play on words starting from his name and also recalling the expression "cursed painter" (in French it is "peintre maudit").

The beginning of the relationship with Jeanne Hébuterne

In Paris he also meets Jeanne Hébuterne, a girl who belongs to the wealthy Paris; Jeanne has two blue slightly cross-eyed eyes and brown hair that form a tuft in front and that give the artist the idea for her nickname "Noix de coco". Soon the two begin a relationship, but her parents categorically oppose and the girl is "forced" to leave the house of the parents to begin a relationship with the reckless artist.

Unfortunately, the love story between Amedeo Modigliani and Jeanne is not only made of passion and love, but also of betrayals by the artist, of the impatience of Amedeo who cannot stand the fact of not being able to sell even a canvas and who vents these sorrows in alcohol and dissoluteness.

Despite Amedeo Modigliani's misery and continuous betrayals, the girl never stops supporting her beloved and remains devoted to him, even when she faces a difficult pregnancy to give birth to their daughter. Meanwhile, Jeanne's parents continue to oppose the relationship between her daughter and the Tuscan painter, refusing to give them a hand even when their granddaughter is born. The rent arrears increase, the cold and hunger are heavy to bear, but Jeanne does not stop believing in their love story.

The illness and the death of the two lovers

The years that follow are hard, but even if they live in difficulty, the two do not stray apart and numerous canvases in which Jeanne is portrayed by Amedeo Modigliani show the bond that exists between the two. Unfortunately, very soon the precarious conditions in which they live are suffered not only psychologically but also physically. Tuberculosis strikes the painter known also for his reckless life made up of drugs, sex and alcohol, and this disease occurs just when Amedeo begins to sell his work and manages to improve the living conditions of his family.

He even intends to marry his Jeanne and start a new life, but a tubercular meningitis sends him first to how and then to death. The artist dies at the Hospital of Charity, in the arms of his Jeanne, on 24th January 1920, after hours of agony. The woman, who is nine months pregnant, is accompanied to her parents' house, but her devotion is such as to induce her to suicide. In fact, the day after the funeral of Amedeo Modigliani, the woman throws herself from the fifth floor.

Article by: Aurora Caraman