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Artwork

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Year:
Theme: Landscape
ID 10 (Ceroni 291)
Cypresses and Houses at Cagnes (Cyprès et maisons à Cagnes)
1919
Alternate titles: Cipressi e case; Cyprès et maisons; Cyprès et maisons à Cagnes; Cypress Trees and House; Landschaft; Maisons et arbres; Paesaggio; Paesaggio del Mezzogiorno; Paysage du midi; Two Trees, Cagnes
Oil on canvas
24 x 18 1/8 in. (61 x 46 cm)
Front, upper right: modigliani
Reverse not inscribed
Creation location: Cagnes-sur-Mer
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia (BF259)
1. See the Commentary below.
2. Barbara Buckley, Simonetta Fraquelli, Nancy Ireson, and Annette King, eds., Modigliani Up Close. Exh. cat. (Philadelphia: The Barnes Foundation, 2022), 215.
3. Ibid.
Commentary

In March 1918, World War I entered a new phase when the Germans began bombing Paris. The art dealer Léopold Zborowski (1889–1932) made the arrangements for a small group, including Modigliani, Jeanne Hébuterne (1898–1920), and Chaim Soutine (1893–1943), to relocate to the South of France. By April, the group had settled in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where Modigliani painted this landscape, one of only four known examples of this genre by the artist.

It seems that the first owner of Cypresses and Houses at Cagnes may have been Armand Parent (1863–1934), who was a Belgian composer, violinist, and an important modern art collector who lived in Paris.1 The art dealer Paul Guillaume (1891–1934) noted that Parent was among the first buyers of Modigliani's paintings.2 It appears that by late 1924, Parent began selling works from his extensive collection and, on a single day in October 1925, he sold ten Modigliani paintings to Galerie Bernheim-Jeune.3

Dr. Albert C. Barnes (1872–1951) purchased his first Modigliani works in August 1922, buying two small drawings from Guillaume.4 By July of the following year, he had acquired nine paintings and a stone head, making him the most significant collector of the artist's work in the United States at that time.5 Today, the Barnes Foundation owns twelve paintings, which makes it one of the largest public Modigliani collections in the world.6

Canvas information
The painting's ground color was identified as white in the 2022 exhibition catalogue for Modigliani Up Close.7

  1. Barbara Buckley, Simonetta Fraquelli, Nancy Ireson, and Annette King, eds., Modigliani Up Close. Exh. cat. (Philadelphia: The Barnes Foundation, 2022), 215, fn. 8. A shipping receipt in the Barnes Foundation Archives notes a "commission account for 'Parent.'"
  2. Paul Guillaume, "Lettre Ouverte à M. Francis Carco," Les Arts à Paris (Paris) no. 13 (June 1927): 22.
  3. Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Floriane Dauberville, Modigliani: Amedeo Modigliani Chez Bernheim-Jeune (Paris: Éditions Bernheim-Jeune, 2015), nos. 4, 33–38, 60–62.
  4. The drawings are: Raimondo, 1915, 8 7/16 x 5 1/16 in. (21.4 x 12.9 cm; BF634) and BAIRON, 1915, 7 x 4 in. (17.8 x 10.2 cm; BF635).
  5. In 1923 Dr. Barnes acquired Ceroni 60, 212–14, 261, 294, 298, 309, 313, and the limestone sculpture known as Head (A249). He later sold 213 and 214.
  6. The Chester Dale Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., also has twelve paintings, one of which is not included in Ceroni's 1970 catalogue.
  7. Simonetta Fraquelli and Anya Shutova, "Cypresses and Houses at Cagnes," in Barbara Buckley, Simonetta Fraquelli, Nancy Ireson, and Annette King, eds., Modigliani Up Close. Exh. cat. (Philadelphia: The Barnes Foundation, 2022), 212.
Published References
Fels 1926
Fels, Florent. "Modigliani." Der Querschnitt (Berlin) 6, no. 7 (July 1926), ill. in b/w, n.p., as Landschaft.
Pfannstiel 1929
Pfannstiel, Arthur. Modigliani: catalogue présumé. Paris: Éditions Marcel Seheur, 1929. Monograph, Catalogue p. 39, as Paysage du midi.
Poligono 1930
"[Reproductions]." Poligono: Rivista Mensile d'Arte (Milan) IV, no. IV (February 1930), ill. in b/w, p. 185, as Paesaggio, dated 1918.
Scheiwiller 1935
Scheiwiller, Giovanni. Amedeo Modigliani. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli Editore, 1935. Monograph, pl. XXV, ill. in b/w, as Paesaggio.
Barnes and de Mazia 1939
Barnes, Albert C. and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Cézanne. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. in association with The Barnes Foundation Press, Merion, PA, 1939, Catalogue Data no. 360, p. 434, as Cypress Trees and House, Barnes Foundation, no. 259, pp. 140–1.
Franchi 1944
Franchi, Raffaello. Modigliani. Florence: Centro Italiano Editoriale Librario, 1944. Monograph, no. 26, ill. in b/w, as Paesaggio del Mezzogiorno.
Franchi 1946
Franchi, Raffaello. Modigliani. Florence: Arnaud, 1946. Monograph, pl. XLIV, ill. in b/w, as Paesaggio del Mezzogiorno, dated 1918.
Lipchitz 1954
Lipchitz, Jacques. Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1954, pl. 62, ill. in b/w, as Two Trees, Cagnes, dated 1918.
Pfannstiel 1956
Pfannstiel, Arthur. Modigliani et son œuvre. Paris: Bibliotèque des Arts, 1956. Monograph, no. 246, as Paysage du midi, dated 1918.
Ceroni 1958
Ceroni, Ambrogio. Amedeo Modigliani: Peintre. Milan: Edizioni del milione, 1958. Monograph, no. 101, ill. in b/w, as Maisons et arbres.
Ceroni 1970
Ceroni, Ambrogio. I dipinti di Modigliani. Milan: Rizzoli Editore, 1970. Monograph, no. 291, p. 102, ill. in b/w, p. 103, as Cipressi e case.
Record last updated April 10, 2026. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Modigliani Initiative. "Cypresses and Houses at Cagnes (Cyprès et maisons à Cagnes), 1919 (ID 10)." In Amedeo Modigliani Digital Catalogue. catalogue.modigliani-initiative.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=10 (accessed on May 11, 2026).