Caryatid Figure By Modigliani

Caryatid Figure Sculpture in the form of a seated abstract woman by Modigliani. Modigliani made more than seventy drawings of caryatids. Their highly stylized manner shows his absorption the arts then considered to be ‘primitive’, including African and especially Cambodian carvings. The drawings were preparatory sketches for sculptures. However, he appears to have made only one carving directly related to this crouching figure. 

A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese.

Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (1884-1920) was an Italian Jewish painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France (educated in Florence and Venice), and established himself in the famous Montmartre area of Paris where his talent was immediately recognized by the East European avant-garde.  He is well known for his portraits and nudes characterized by the elongation of faces and figures.  He had to give up sculpting in 1915 due to ill health.  He had a short and eventful life, he was extremely driven and longed for recognition. But his life was also marked by alcoholism, metaphysical fears and progressive tuberculosis. At the age of 36, Modigliani died and left an art work that shows a sincere, obsessive search for truth and purity within art.