Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz

Modigliani and Lipchitz had each moved to France at a young age, were both from Jewish backgrounds, and became close friends who frequented the same artistic circles in Paris.

"[5] One of only two double portraits painted by Modigliani,[2] Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz has been noted for its complex and enigmatic study of contrasting personalities.

Lipchitz is shown with his wife Berthe Kitrosser, a Russian poet, in their Paris apartment that had previously been the home of the sculptor Constantin Brâncuși.

[2] For art historian and curator Mason Klein, Berthe's face is bland and bourgeois, her frilly collar and pert nose suggesting haughtiness, while Lipchitz stands above her, domineering and protective.

[7] Modigliani biographer Werner Schmalenbach compared Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz to the artist's Bride and Groom of 1915, and noted the development away from a purely formal depiction of 'types' to a greater interest in the characterization of individuals.

Amedeo Modigliani . Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz . 1916. Oil on canvas, 81.3 x 54.3 cm. Art Institute of Chicago .
Amedeo Modigliani. Bride and Groom , 1915. The subjects of Modigliani's other double portrait appear to be "character puppets", whereas Jacques Lipchitz and his wife are "transformed into human beings". [ 6 ]