Modigliani and Akhmatova: A Lost Love Story

The brief but intense romance between Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani and Russian poet Anna Akhmatova is largely known through her memoirs. They met in Paris in 1906 at the Café de la Rotonde. Modigliani, then 24 and impoverished, was captivated by the 20-year-old Akhmatova, who was on her honeymoon with husband Nikolai Gumilyov. Their affair lasted a few months in 1911, during which Modigliani painted over ten portraits of her, most now lost. Only two nude paintings and one surviving sketch remain; fifteen sketches were reportedly burned at Tsarskoye Selo during the Russian Revolution. After Akhmatova returned to Russia, they never met again. Modigliani later fell in love with Jeanne Hébuterne. Akhmatova learned of his death in 1920 from a newspaper. In 1965, she visited Paris and recalled their time together. In 1993, seven additional sketches by Modigliani were exhibited by Paul Alexander. No letters survive, only fragments of Akhmatova's memories.