Into the Darkness Laughing: Story of Modigliani's Last Mistress, Jeanne Heboterne by Patrice Chaplin
In the years of World War I, somewhere in Montparnasse, a young artist, Jeanne Hebuterne met the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. She was a young girl with a farouche beauty and a talent recognized by Foujita and Severini. He was in his thirties, unstable, penniless and unrecognized. From 1917 they lived together in Modigliani's studio, Jeanne posing for him continually, as he, increasingly embittered, found escape in drink. By the freezing January of 1920, Modigliani's health had failed. For a week he lay dying of tubercular meningitis with only Jeanne beside him. Too late, they were found by the Chilean painter, Ortiz de Zarate. Modigliani died in the Charity Hospital the following day Jeanne, nine months pregnant, fell to her death from a fifth floor window. The author has unearthed letters, photographs and drawings not previously seen and the book sheds light on the short life and tragic death of Jeanne Hebuterne.