The Pretty Housewife (La Jolie ménagère)

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FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

A wooden hutch stocked with serving dishes denotes the recognizable space of a kitchen—making this a departure from the simplified backgrounds characteristic of Modigliani's portraits. With stitched-up, blank eyes—one darker than the other—a young woman in a typical service dress with a white collar and apron carries a market basket on her arm. Modigliani signed his name in the upper right and painted the title across the upper left: the pairing perhaps plays on the double meaning of ménagère, which translates as both housewife and housemaid.

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