Portrait of Beatrice Hastings before a door
Béatrice Hastings appears in profile against a plain door in this 1915 portrait, one of at least fourteen Amedeo Modigliani painted of her during their relationship. The blocky, simplified planes of her face and shoulders reflect the direction Modigliani's work was taking that year, shaped by his exposure to Cubism and to African sculpture, the same influences he was working through in the carved stone heads that occupied him through 1914[1]. Nineteen-fifteen marked a real turning point in his art: his affair with Hastings was ending, his friendship with Picasso had broken down, and he was moving from several years spent mostly on sculpture into the sustained run of painting that would define the rest of his career[2]. The painting stayed in private hands and last changed ownership at a Christie's auction in 2002; no public museum holds it.
Where it is held
In private hands; last sold at Christie's in 2002.
1915: a change in direction
Modigliani spent 1909 to 1914 concentrated mostly on sculpture, carving heads directly into stone in the manner of his neighbour Brancusi, a practice shaped by African and archaic sculpture that gave the carvings their anonymity and hieratic simplicity[1]. By 1915 poor health and the physical demands of stone carving pushed him back towards painting, and the profile, planar treatment of a face in this portrait carries the same stylisation straight over from the sculpture into paint. It was also the year his relationship with Hastings, begun the year before, was ending, and the year his friendship with Picasso collapsed after an unrecorded dispute[2]. The painting sits at the exact hinge between Modigliani's sculptural period and the run of portraiture that occupied his final five years.
Common questions
Why does this portrait look more angular than Modigliani's later work?
It dates from 1915, when Modigliani was translating the blocky, African-sculpture-influenced style of his carved heads directly into painting, before his later portraits softened into more curved, elongated forms[1].
Where is this painting now?
In private hands. It last changed ownership at a Christie's auction in 2002, and no public museum currently holds it.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following references, verified against the museum and public-domain image record for this work.
- [1] book Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum catalogue Used for: this artwork.
- [2] book Braun, Emily, 1957-; Asor Rosa, Alberto; Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain), Italian art in the 20th century : painting and sculpture, 1900-1988 Used for: this artwork.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-09-03. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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