Shawn's Picks: 101 Paintings to See in New York City

Reclining Nude by Modigliani was at The Met. I like most all of Modigliani's work, but the colors in this painting pop unbelievably in person.

Modigliani was an interesting character. He died in Paris of tubercular meningitis— exacerbated by poverty, overworking, and an excessive use of alcohol and narcotics — at the age of 35.

When he was 11, his mother noted in her diary that:

The child's character is still so unformed that I cannot say what I think of it. He behaves like a spoiled child, but he does not lack intelligence. We shall have to wait and see what is inside this chrysalis. Perhaps an artist?

Modigliana did quite a number of nudes. In 1902, Modigliani continued what was to be a life-long infatuation with life drawing, enrolling in the Accademia di Belle Arti (Scuola Libera di Nudo, or "Free School of Nude Studies") in Florence.

On December 3, 1917, Modigliani's first one-man exhibition opened at the Berthe Weill Gallery. The chief of the Paris police was scandalized by Modigliani's nudes and forced him to close the exhibition within a few hours after its opening.