Jeanne Modigliani

Italian artist Jeanne Modigliani was the daughter of world renowned artist Amedeo Modigliani and the French artist Jeanne Hébuterne. Amadeo, who was an addict living in poverty in 1920, succumbed to tubercular meningitis and passed always. The artist's mother, Hébuterne, who struggled with depression all her life, could not deal with the passing of her husband and, several days after his death, committed suicide by jumping from a window. She was eight months pregnant with their second child. Jeanne Modigliani, who was only 14 months old at the time, was taken by the state until her paternal aunt eventually adopted her and raised her in Italy.

Born Giovanna Hébuterne in 1918, the artist grew up not knowing anything about her parents, as her guardians wished to shield her from the tragic truth. Amedeo has thankfully signed the papers making her his legitimate child. This was hugely beneficial to Jeanne as the world slowly discovered the power of the masterful works her father left behind. All his possessions now legally belonged to her and the descendants.

Jeanne grew up in Livorno, Amedeo's hometown. She moved to Florence, where she studied art history. Over the period of several decades, she became the leading expert in her father's art. In 1958 she published the artist's biography , which in 1961 she personally translated to French.

When World War II began, Jeanne, who at the time was married to Italian Jewish economist Mario Cesare Silvio Levi, was prosecuted for being a Jew and had to escape the fascist regime. In France, she joined the resistance and met Valdemar "Valdi" Nechtschein, a French resistance fighter. In 1946, she gave birth to her daughter Anne. Soon after, they both divorced their spouses and got married. Together they worked in writing for the newspaper Action. She was also employed as an editorial secretary.

Throughout the 1960s, Jeanne dabbled in painting abstract compositions.

Jeanne Modigliani passed away in 1984 in Paris.

Featured image: Photo of Jeanne Modigliani