Amedeo Modigliani

Paul Guillaume, Paris (acquired from the artist and until 1926)

Alfred (Poznanski) Savoir, Paris

Private Collection, New York (probably acquired in Paris in the 1950s or 1960s)

Herman C. Goldsmith, New York (on consignment from the above in 1986)

Perls Galleries, New York (acquired from the above)

Private Collection (acquired from the above and sold: Sotheby’s, London, June 30, 1987, lot 46)

Joseph Wolpe Gallery, Cape Town (acquired at the above sale)

The Lefevre Gallery (Alex. Reid and Lefevre), London (acquired from the above)

Acquired from the above in 2000

New York, Perls Gallery, Raoul Dufy & The School of Paris, 1987

Tokyo, The National Art Center, Modigliani et le primitivisme, 2008, no. 62, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Modigliani y su tiempo, 2008, no. 62, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Bonn, Kunst und Austellungshalle der Bundersrepublik Deutschland, Modigliani, 2009, no. 49, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Paul Guillaume archives, illustrated

Florent Fels, Modigliani, Paris, 1926, illustrated pp. 520-521

Arthur Pfannstiel, Modigliani, Paris, 1929, p. 13 (titled Portrait de fille)

Very good condition. The canvas is lined. A fine network of craquelure in the upper left quadrant, and a thin crack to the paint beneath the figure's left eye and some above her left eyebrow. Under UV there spots of retouching to the hair and to the background on the upper left.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Femme à la collerette belongs to an important group of pictures that appear in the archives of Modigliani's esteemed dealer and benefactor, Paul Guillaume.  Dating from 1915, the picture relates to other figural paintings that Modigliani completed that same year, including those of Guillaume, Apollinaire, Max Jacob, Moise Kisling, Henri Laurens and Beatrice Hastings, the South African journalist who was Modigliani's lover at the time.  The present composition bears several similiarities to Modigliani's portraits of Hastings, most notably the red-haired Madame Pompadour, and it was one of the rare canvases that Guillaume kept in his private collection until at least 1926.   

The aesthetic influences of Modigliani's portraits from 1915-16 are eclectic, and drawn from a variety of cultural sources.  An Italian by birth, Modigliani revered the formal portraits of the Italian Renaissance and Mannerist painters, and his compositions incorporate much of the stylization favored by these great artists of the past.  His own experience with carving elongated heads in limestone in the early 1910s had a profound impact on his aesthetic, as did the influence of the Parisian avant-garde.  Living in Montparnasse exposed him to an assortment of creative figures, including the Cubist painters, Picasso and Léger, and the important writers and intellectuals of early 20th century Paris.  The combined impact of all of these influences was profound, and allowed Modigliani to create some of the most richly conceived portraits in the history of Modern art.  Kenneth Wayne has written the following about the vast pool of personal interests from which the artist formed his own unique style: "Of the many distinguished artists who worked in Montparnasse, Modigliani had perhaps the widest range of discernible sources:  Florentine and Venetian Renaissance painting, the nude tradition, portraiture, African art, Cambodian art, Egyptian art, Roman art, Greek art, medieval sculpture the sculpture of Michelangelo, direct carving, contemporary life, popular art/café culture, the kabala and Jewish Mysticism, Symbolism, Fauvism, Cubism, and fantasy art, not to mention French, German, Italian, British, and American literature.  These wide interests made him the ultimate Montparnassian sophisticate and quintessential figure of this extraordinary time and place" (K. Wayne, Modigliani & The Artists of Montparnasse (exhibition catalogue), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2002-03, p. 17).

As confirmed by Marc Restellini in a letter to the present owner in 2011, Paul Guillaume was the first to own this painting, which he acquired directly from the artist and kept in his private collection for over a decade.  We also know that the picture later came into the collection of Alfred Poznanski, the comic playwright who wrote under the pen name "Alfred Savoir".  Poznanski was the co-founder and editor of the periodical Marianne and was awarded the Legion of Honor before he died in 1934.  Many of Savoir's paintings were inherited by his son, Jean-Claude Savoir, who sold part of the family collection during the 1950s.