An encounter in Paris  15 July until 2 October 2011

Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine and Ossip Zadkine

In its new Art Gallery, the Jewish Historical Museum presents, in cooperation with the Triton Foundation, four works by Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, and Ossip Zadkine. These artists met in Paris, where all three of them spent time at the famous studio complex La Ruche ('The Beehive') in the Vaugirard area of Montparnasse.

In the early twentieth century, artists from far and wide went to Paris, which was then the centre of the art world, in search of new challenges and new styles. They included many Eastern Europeans of Jewish descent, who were generally barred from formal art education in their countries of origin. In Paris, these newcomers strove to win places in the studios of Montmartre and Montparnasse. In the process, they became part of an unaffiliated group of artists known as the École de Paris (School of Paris), sharing not only their dreams of artistic success but also, in spite of their poverty, a love of drink, women and carousing. They formed friendships, often for life, in which their shared Jewish origins played a definite role.

• Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)

  Tête de Jeune Fille (Louise)

• Chaim Soutine (1883-1943)

  Portrait de Charlot

• Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967)

  Le Retour du fils prodigue