A New Translation of Salmon's Modigliani Memoir from French to Italian

André Salmon, La Vie Passionée de Modigliani, 1957

retranslated into Italian in November 2020

It is a great pleasure and honor to commemorate the 101st anniversary of Amedeo Modigliani's death in Paris, on January 24, 1920, with the announcement of a new translation of André Salmon's memoir dedicated to the life of this extraordinary modern Jewish Italian artist, best known for his distinctive mannered style and tragic end. 

The translators of this magnificent new volume Amedeo Modigliani: Vita e Passioni are:

Dr. Franca Bruera, Professor of French Literature in the Department of the Humanities at the University of Turin.  Her specialty is twentieth century literature, particularly Guillaume Apollinaire, whom we discuss in an early blog post here. 

And Dr. Marilena Pronesti, who received her doctorate in French Literature from the University of Turin, dedicating her research primarily to André Salmon's career in journalism.    

Dr. Jacqueline Gojard, Professor of French Literature, University of Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle) and Salmon expert par excellence, wrote the introduction to the text, translated from French into Italian as well.

Dr. Bruera and Dr. Pronesti hosted a splendid André Salmon Colloquium on December 9, 2019. The theme was "In Search of André Salmon," announced in a previous blog post here.

 

For your viewing pleasure, a wonderful video of Dr. Pronesti summarizing the Salmon/Modigliani book and life of Salmon has been posted here.

For further information about André Salmon's relationship with Modigliani, please refer to our previous post to honor the 100th anniversary of Modigliani's death in 2020.  There you will find Salmon's tribute to Modigliani in his poem Peindre (On Painting) and a link to my review of the recent Modigliani exhibitions at the Jewish Museum in New York (Modigliani Unmasked) and the Tate Modern in London (Modigliani) published by the English online magazine Bonjour Paris.

The Modigliani Project continues to thrive. You can find out more about this valuable source by clicking on the link provided here.

And finally, a new historical novel dedicated to the memory of Jeanne Hébuterne, Modigliani's common-law wife, who committed suicide by jumping out of a window at her parents' home in the wee hours of January 26, 2020, was also published in November 2020: Loving Modigliani: The Afterlife of Jeanne Hébuterne by Linda Lappin.

Please note that Salmon's first Modigliani biography was published in 1926 by L'Éditions  des Quatres Chemins.  A copy is available in the Guggenheim Museum's archives.  A 1924 article by Francis Carco in response to Salmon's claim that Modigliani was "our only painter of the nude" is located in the Guggenheim archives as well as and is reproduced below:

Best wishes to you all for the new year - 

Bonne Année, Bonne Santé

La Bande à Salmon