Jeanne Hébuterne, Modigliani's great lovePerhaps the most well-known artist of Livornese origins is Amedeo Modigliani. He was born in Livorno in 1884 and gained his early artistic training within the Macchiaioli group.

Modigliani spent most of his short life in Paris, where he died in 1920, having said “I am going to drink myself dead”, which unfortunately he did.

Modigliani was both an artist and a sculptor and was influenced by Cézanne, Picasso, and by African sculpture, but essentially by his Italian heritage.  He was probably the greatest Italian artist of the 20th century.

His work only began to be noticed by the critics after he died, in particular following an exhibition of his paintings at the Venice Biennale in 1930.

Nowadays his paintings can be seen in various parts of the world, from Italy to Switzerland, France, Britain, and the USA but sadly not in Livorno itself. The nearest gallery exhibiting his work is the Museo Civico di Arte Contemporaneo in Milan.

The house where he was born is in Via Roma, close to Piazza Attias, in the town centre. A plaque on the wall commemorates the event.

One of the Greatest Hoaxes in the History of Italian Art

The False Heads on display in 1984In 1909 Modigliani left Livorno for Paris, embittered by the negative reviews he had received from art critics and fellow citizens. The story goes that someone even advised him to throw his sculptures away, they were worth so little, and at this Modigliani tossed some of his carved busts into Livorno's Fosso Reale near his home

Scorcio di Ardenza con figure, by Cafiero Filippelli, one of the Scuola Labronica artists: source: www.artnet.comThe Scuola Labronica was a group of 18 Italian artists, all born in or around Livorno. It was officially founded in 1920, though its members had met regularly at the Caffè Bardi, in the centre of Livorno, since 1908. It continued until about 1950.