Into the Darkness Laughing – A Great Read about the Wife of Modigliani-Jeanne Hebuterne
The book called: Into the Darkness Laughing focuses on the story of the common-law wife of Modigliani, Jeanne Hebuterne. It is through Jeanne Hebuterne’s eyes, that we read the story of the tragic, Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. The author, Patrice Chaplin, aims to tell you Hebuterne’s untold story.
In April 1917, Amedeo Modigliani met Jeanne Hébuterne, a talented and beautiful young girl studying art in Paris. Modigliani was a charming womanizer and young Jeanne fell in love instantly with the good looking Italian artist.
The two loved each other very much even though the two were an unlikely match. Jeanne Hebuterne was a quiet, shy and a gentle girl. She came from a strict, bourgeois, Catholic family. Modigliani, on the other hand, came from a Jewish bourgeois family but led the ultimate bohemian life of art, women, drugs and alcohol. When Jeanne moved in with Modigliani, her strict parents were horrified and disowned her!
Jeanne Hebuterne – Modigliani’s Greatest Muse and Love
In the three years that Modigliani was with Jeanne Hebuterne, he painted her more than twenty times. Up until meeting Jeanne, Modigliani painted many nudes. However, when he met Jeanne, he preferred to fill his canvases with portraits of Jeanne’s beautiful face and slender figure. Modigliani never painted a nude of Jeanne. It seems that she may have been too shy to pose in the nude or that her body was too sacred for him to portray to the public.
Into the Darkness Laughing by Patrice Chaplin is a beautiful but heart-wrenching love story. The author draws you into the inner world of Jeanne Hebuterne, the young woman who was Amedeo Modigliani’s greatest love. This could be the story of any talented male artist but the author has decided to twist the tale so that the spotlight shines onto the female mistress and muse.
Don’t they always say that “behind every great man is a great woman?”
If you are a fan of Amedeo Modigliani, you must check out this wonderful book!
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For many great reads about the impressionism and post-impressionism painters, see my recommendations below:
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