amedeo modigliani

Today's great Italian is my favourite painter of all time. I like him because he's figurative but with a twist, not slavishly photographic, and endlessly fascinated by humankind (for he primarily painted portraits). His canvasses - never polished, the colours patchily applied - give off a welcoming casualness, and ooze the gritty Bohemian lifestyle he is now famous for. His raunchy, sexy nudes are a celebration of horniness. Today's great Italian is Amedeo Modigliani.