​Modigliani was an Italian artist who worked in France. This particular sculpture is one of 27 sculptures known by the artist. Elongated faces characterized both his paintings and sculptures, Modigliani often borrowed from African ceremonial masks, which represented a spiritual expression to the artist.
Although Modigliani did exhibit a
series of his sculptures in 1912, he had abandoned sculpting by 1914 to focus solely on painting. The piece represents the head of a woman who is bearing the face of a mask. It pays homage to indigenous geometric designs and ceremonial masks. The eyes appear closed, and the long face gives the sense of deep contemplation. The hair of the woman is pulled back in a tussled manner off to one side. The sculpture is entirely symmetrical except for the hair of the woman.
To achieve the sweeping mask of this sculpture in the brick replica version, I widened the nose just slightly and brought out the brow further than in the original piece. This allowed the eyes to also come out and give the entire piece the same feel as the original sculpture.