A visitor looks at a nude painting by Amedeo Modigliani
© AFP Philippe DesmazesMADRID (AFP) - The exhibition "Modigliani and his age" groups works by the tormented artist and some of his his contemporaries, such as Picasso, Chagall and Kisling and is organised jointly by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Caja Madrid Foundation. The exhibition runs from February 5 to May 18.
It follows several major retrospectives of Modigliani in Paris, Rome, London and Moscow.
It is however the first exhibition that attempts to show the painter in his time, amid the avant-garde ferment of Paris in the early 20th century, by displaying his works alongside other artists of the period, said the exhibition's organiser, Francisco Calvo Serraller.
Born in Livorno, northern Italy, in 1884, Modigliani moved to Paris in 1906, where he lived a troubled life, battling alcohol and financial problems, and died in 1920 of tubercular meningitis.
His tragic destiny fueled a myth and boosted the popularity of his works, mainly portraits and nudes, including several "reclining nudes" on show in Madrid.
An admirer of Cezanne, Picasso and Brancusi, "Modi" was close to several artists of his time, especially Moise Kisling, his neighbour and friend and the inspiration for some of his works, including several on display in Madrid.
©AFP