Amadeo Modigliani

In the course of the first world war, 1914-1918, the artist community in Paris became more close-knit. During this period, the Danish artist Anton Dich (1889-1935) became especially close to Amadeo Modigliani and his circle. Among them were artists including Othon Fries, Chaim Soutine, Ortiz de Zaeate, the sculptor Ossip Zadkine and Chantal Quenneville who modeled for Modigliani. Modigliani gradually became close to Dich and his Swedish wife Eva, the widow of the artist Ivan Arosenius. In 1918 Modigliani painted a portrait of Eva Dich's and Arosenius's daughter, the well-known “Lillan” (Filette assise, Parisot, 34/1918).

He also executed a lot of of drawings, some depicting Lillan and Eva. The friendship resulted in a series of drawings that Modigliani most likely gifted to Dich and have since been preserved within the family. At least thirteen drawings were inherited by Anton's son Ivan, as recorded in the book "Konst i Svenska Hem" from 1943. After his death, a number of them have been sold and published, for example "Portrait de Femme", depicted in J. Lantheman, Modigliani 1884-1929, Catalogue Rainsonne sa Vie, son Oeuvre Complete, son Art, Barcelona 1970, p. 376, no 965. Also“Young girl”, in the collection of Ashmolean Museum, WA2005, 200. The present two drawings in the auction belong to the original thirteen and have never been viewed publicly before. The drawings have been preserved within the family and passed down through generations.