THE EXPRESSIVE FIGURATION OF MUNCH, MATISSE, AND MODIGLIANI

To coincide with the Nassau County Museum’s exhibition on Modigliani and the Modern Portrait, this single-day lecture will examine the work of three contemporaneous titans of early Modernism: Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse, and Amedo Modigliani. Although each of these artists developed their own unique styles, they all became notable for pushing the boundaries of portraiture and figure painting far beyond traditional limitations. This course will place these artists' work in dialogue with one another, exploring the various liberties they took with the human form and comparing their dramatic experiments in color and line. We will also look at their work in the context of movements such as Symbolism, Expressionism, and Fauvism.