# Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz

**Amedeo Modigliani** (Italian, 1884–1920)  
1916  
Oil on canvas  
81.3 × 54.3 cm (32 × 21 3/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1926.221. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27987).

## About this work

Amedeo Modigliani created his finest paintings between 1914 and his premature death in 1920. Focusing on a limited range of subjects, mainly portraits and nudes, he developed a highly distinctive style of sensitively elongated forms. Sculptor Jacques Lipchitz commissioned Modigliani to paint this portrait on the occasion of his marriage to the poet Berthe Kitrosser as a way of helping his troubled friend financially.

_Text from the Art Institute of Chicago._

Amedeo Modigliani painted this in 1916, aged 32. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

Large painting, standing man blue turtleneck, sitting woman with white collar.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Amedeo Modigliani](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/amedeo-modigliani)

Italian, 1884–1920

Modigliani trained in Italy before moving to Paris in 1906, where he lived the precarious life of Montmartre and Montparnasse. Influenced by Cézanne, by African and ancient sculpture, and by his own work as a sculptor with Brâncuși’s encouragement, he developed a distinctive manner of elongated faces, almond eyes and long necks. His portraits of friends and fellow artists, among them Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz, and his reclining nudes date mainly from his last five years. He died of tuberculous meningitis at thirty-five.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was 32
- Real size: about 32 × 21 in (81 × 54 cm). The 20 × 30 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 20th century
- Subjects: Century of Progress, world's fairs, Chicago World's Fairs, suits, interiors, couples, portraits, Modernism
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/117.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/117/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/jacques-and-berthe-lipchitz-aic-27987).