Amedeo Modigliani devoted his short and troubled life to creating paintings. He primarily made portraits of people he knew in a flat and coolly modulated style. Along with his contemporaries Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and André Derain, Modigliani greatly admired African masks, and their influence can be seen here in the stylized treatment of the boy’s face. With its acid yellow-green colors and the sitter’s air of detachment, Boy in Short Pants conveys the iconic elegance that Modigliani often bestowed upon his bohemian acquaintances.

Excerpt from

Nicole R. Myers, DMA label copy, 2017.

• Tate, London
  Read "Five Things to Know: Amedeo Modigliani" from the Tate.

• Guggenheim, New York
  Read a biography of Modgliani.

• Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
  Learn more about the life and work of Modigliani.