VERGE OF GLORY

by Frederick Wight ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Not too much is known about the French painter Modigliani; he lived with a rather shabby claque in Montmatre; he was dirty, and diseased; he was an inexhaustible amorist; and the distortion which was the distinctive feature of his paintings was achieved through liquor or drugs. This then is the story of his life and his ""genius and its need"" as it is affirmed in a fictional frame by a friend and as it records his last years. Modi escapes from the proprietary Sophia, who will later exploit his pictures, to the very young (19) Coco, who bears him one child they both neglect, and is pregnant with a second when Modi dies- and Coco suicides. In between you have the niggling encroachments of Sophia, the attempts to remove him to Switzerland as his tuberculosis advanced, and the whole sordid progression of his last days lived out in a climate of excess, frenzy and filth. No Moulin Rouge, if the inspiration is dimmed, you may either tilt with Mr. Wight who has previously written two indifferent novels, or Modigliani himself.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1956

Categories: FICTION