Artwork
Roma Woman with Baby
Roma Woman with Baby is an oil painting by Amedeo Modigliani. It dates from 1919 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:upper right: modigliani
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The muted, almost monochromatic background strips the scene of specific context, focusing attention entirely on the human encounter between mother and child.
The painting depicts a seated young Roma (Gypsy) woman holding an infant against her body, set against a gray background. The composition centers on the intimate maternal gesture of the figure cradling her baby, a subject that aligns with Modigliani's broader portrait practice while introducing ethnographic overtones common in early 20th-century European art. The title itself, "Roma Woman with Baby" or "La Bohémienne", signals the artist's framing of the sitter through a lens of exoticized otherness, a romanticized figure of bohemian life that held fascination for Parisian avant-garde circles.
The work thus operates on multiple levels: as a tender study of motherhood, as a document of the artist's engagement with marginalized subjects, and as a reflection of contemporary cultural attitudes toward Roma identity. The muted, almost monochromatic background strips the scene of specific context, focusing attention entirely on the human encounter between mother and child.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1919, this work is an oil painting on canvas measuring 115.9 by 73 cm. The composition features a seated young woman holding an infant against a plain grey background. As a portrait, the piece utilizes the artist's characteristic approach to figure representation within the oil medium on a woven support.
History & Provenance
The painting was created in 1919 by Amedeo Modigliani as an oil on canvas portrait. Its early ownership passed from Bing & Cie in Paris to Paul Guillaume and Bernheim Jeune, and it was sold in April 1928 to Chester Dale. In 1963 the work was bequeathed by Dale to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The provenance is documented by Pfannstiel (1956) and Patani (1991).
Roma Woman with Baby has been part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., since 1963, when it entered the institution as part of the bequest of collector Chester Dale (1883–1962). Dale had acquired the painting in April 1928 from Paul Guillaume and Bernheim Jeune in Paris, dealers who had themselves obtained it earlier from Bing et Cie, also in Paris. Earlier ownership is documented through Paul Guillaume, who held the work before its 1928 sale.
The sources reviewed do not record any specific exhibition history for the painting beyond its movement through these commercial galleries and its eventual placement at the National Gallery of Art.
Overview
Created in 1919, this oil on canvas by Amedeo Modigliani portrays a seated woman cradling an infant. The figure is set against a muted gray backdrop, her attire consisting of a white blouse highlighted with red trim and a blue skirt. The composition is straightforward, emphasizing the calm demeanor of the mother and child.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (US: ; Italian: ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France.
