1957, Foujita, Anouk Aimée, Gérard Philippe during filming. Chana Orloff can be seen at the bottom of the photograph taken on the evening of the film’s cocktail party, September 17, 1957.
“MONTPARNASSE 19” (THE LOVERS OF MONTPARNASSE)
Release date: April 4, 1958
Director: Jacques Becker
Screenplay: Jacques Becker, Max Ophüls, and Henri Jeanson, based on the original work by Michel Georges-Michel.
The legendary film begins with the following statements:
“The authors of this fictionalized film, while inspired by certain authentic episodes, did not claim to create a historical work.”
“Today, all the museums of the world and major collectors vie for Modigliani’s works; each of his paintings is worth tens of millions. Yesterday, during his lifetime, in 1919, no one wanted his paintings. “Modi,” misunderstood, distraught, doubted himself…”
There is no doubt that Chana Orloff and Léonard Foujita, in these photographs taken during filming and on the day of the presentation at La Rotonde alongside the main actors Gérard Philipe (Cannes December 4, 1922 – Paris November 25, 1959), in the role of Amedeo Modigliani, and Anouk Aimée (Paris April 27, 1932 – June 18, 2024), in the role of Jeanne Hébuterne, suggested such considerations to the production. They were the best friends of the mythical couple during their youth in Montparnasse. Foujita and his wife Fernande assisted them until the end of their lives, and Chana Orloff introduced Modigliani to his companion from the Académie de la Grande-Chaumière.
These three unpublished photographs will appear in the forthcoming volume of the Catalogue Raisonné of Foujita’s Work.