Modigliani worked in Micheli’s Art School from 1898 to 1900. Among his colleagues in that studio would have been Llewelyn Lloyd, Giulio Cesare Vinzio, Manlio Martinelli, Gino Romiti and Oscar Ghiglia. His early work was inspired by Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), an Italian genre and portrait painter, known as the “Master of Swish” due to his flowing style of painting. A great admirer of portraiture by Boldini and John Singer Sargent, Modigliani would later make an unsuccessful attempt at being a society portraitist, after his arrival in Paris. The following plate, The Horsewoman (1908), gives a clear indication that the young artist’s unconventional handling of the subject confirms his aptness instead for becoming an innovative member of the avant-garde, led by the likes of Pablo Picasso.
The surviving sketches for this canvas reveal that the unknown sitter, who had commissioned the work, bore Slavic features, such as high cheek bones and slanted eyes, which are then underplayed in the painting. The representation of bold lines, differing much from the graceful elegance of Boldini’s portraits, and the uncertain depiction of the jacket apparently met much disfavour. Once it was completed, the sitter rejected the work and it was eventually purchased by Dr. Paul Alexandre, who would become Modigliani’s great friend and patron. From 1907 to 1914, the two saw each other almost every day. Alexandre, a young medical doctor, three years older than Modigliani, bought most of his paintings and hid away every drawing he could lay his hands on, many of which have only resurfaced recently. When the First World War broke out, Alexandre was immediately sent to the front. His demobilisation was delayed at the end of the war, so he never saw Modigliani again.