Oil on canvas Signed lower left 28 x 30cm. (11 x 11 3/4in.) Provenance: Crane Kalman Gallery, London Acquired from the above by the present owner Marchand was born in Paris in 1883. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts between 1902-1909. In 1910, he exhibited Still Life with Bananas at the Manet and the Post-Impressionists show organised by Roger Fry. His work was hung alongside works by Edouard Manet, Paul Cezanne and Pablo Picasso. Marchand became a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Towards the end of the 1910s he settled with a community of artists in Céret including Max Jacob and Auguste Herbin. Marchand mixed with influential circles and it is likely that he came in contact with Modigliani in Paris. The portrait of the artist captures a moment in time as Modigliani glances through the viewer out of the canvas. Marchand works with a subdued colour palette which creates a sense of calm and fondness between the artist and sitter.