Italian-born Cubist painter, Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) and the French, Jacques Villon (1875-1963), both painted vibrant and expressive portraits during the early twentieth-century. In this case, the chosen portraits are Modigliani's "Portrait of Mrs. Hastings", 1915 and Villon's "Mme. Fulgence", 1936.

Both of these compositions are portraits. Nothing is of more importance than the sitter herself. The female sitter in Modigliani's piece, sits in an almost dizzying pose with a twist in her elongated neck (a Modigliani trademark), a stylized and mask-like head and a columnar neck. All of which give the sitter a blank and ashen expression. She looks at the viewer, head-on with a most piercing air in her eyes. In Villon's case, his female sitter has been created solely with the use of layered colours and a very random synthetist outline technique (a similar technique the post-impressionist painter Gaugin used). Modigliani outlines his figure moreso in black than Villon. Mme. Fulgence's age is understood by the strong dynamic colour quality that has been used to break her fa

ce apart. In a way, these colourful divisions act as wrinkles. For instance, the chunk of layered pink on her lip creates a scowl and the heavily applied white on her nose helps it to seem upright; a 'snobbish' upturn. Colours such as the orange, have been used to highlight her left cheek and only visible ear. With these effects, the viewer sees Mme. Fulgence as a very proper and 'posh' (if you will) woman. Bitterness is only a common linkage with the other attributes. Modigliani's Hastings on the other hand seems to be an intense woman of a compassionate nature. Both of these pieces have relied heavily on the expressive and wild use of colour to create emotional expressions and unerring form.

The weighty application in both portraits creates a brilliant textural finish. The expressive nature that is brought out in the quick brushstrokes is equally defined in the actual texture of the painting plain. In Modigliani's background, the strokes are long and applied at a rapid pace. Whereas in Villon's background, his strokes are shorter and seem to have more of a planned location (just as Seurat applies his paint).

Both of these portraits are cre

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