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New York State Poser Laureate Pfp alt: Bat Boy He/him My posts: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ptbjlnxon7auae4fd46umjer/feed/aaaowg6rhe54y My bangers & whimpers: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ptbjlnxon7auae4fd46umjer/feed/aaaeotaibrcqq

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Jennifer Ashby@jenniferashby.bsky.social · yesterday

Local students & a sculptor in Livorno conducted an elaborate prank in 1984 by planting fake Modigliani sculptures in the Fosso Reale for authorities to find when investigating the local legend that he threw works in the canal. Deemed authentic before they came forward - a media sensation ensued.

One of the fake Modigliani sculptures discovered I the Fosse Reale Canale in Livorno in 1984. Now on display in the Museo della Città di Livorno. Amedeo Modigliani MODIGLIANI'S FAKE HEADSA long-standing and evocative tale has always hovered over the city of Livorno: according to local legend, Amedeo Modigliani, known for his complex and fiery temper, in a tumultuous summer night, after spending time drinking at the Caffè Bardi (a popular gathering place for the local art scene, placed in the modern Piazza Cavour), overcome with disappointment and the lack of success in his art, decided to throw some of his sculptures into the near canal. These sculptures, said to be stone "heads" sculpted in his unmistakable "art nègre" style, were believed to be lost forever.In 1984, to mark the centenary of Modigliani's birth, the city organized a great exhibition at the Museo Progressivo di Villa Maria. As part of the initiative, the organizers decided to dredge the Fosso Reale canal in an attempt to debunk the myth and possibly recover lost works of the city's most renowned child.To everyone's astonishment, three stone heads were actually found; just as critics and media rushed to hail them as early masterpieces by Amedeo Modigliani. Renowned art historians and critics around the world declared their authenticity, and for a brief moment, Livorno became the focal point of the global art world. However, just a few weeks later, the hoax was exposed: a group of local high school students and a Livornese sculptor separately confessed to having created the heads. The students intended to mock the extensive and costly search effort, while the sculptor aimed to deliver a scathing critique of the art world's superficiality. The students were even invited on national television, where they reproduced one of the heads live on air using drills and files—perfectly matching those retrieved from the canal mud.The incident became a sensational media case that called into question the concepts of authenticity in art, the authority of experts, and the power of cultural expectations. It was a historic event that perfectly reflected the sardonic, irreverent s…
Scare Quotes@quote-unquote.bsky.social · 21h ago

I wish the due dates on Libby took audiobook length into account. Sure, I can finish a 6 hour audiobook in time; but I need a few extra days for a 21 hour book before you send it to the next person on the hold list.

Emmaeli@emmaelie.bsky.social · 5d ago

"There is a place in you where you have never been wounded, where there is still a sureness in you ... a confidence and tranquility." John O'Donohue The Inner Landscape of Beauty