Modigliani Legal Archives seized in Switzerland, the basis for certifying his works

There is a new twist in the long-running affair of the Modigliani Legal Archives, which has come back into the limelight in recent weeks, following the book-investigation L’affare Modigliani by Dania Mondini and Claudio Loiodice and the arrival of the issue in Parliament, with Senator Margherita Corrado’s (M5S) questioning about the ownership of what we can define as Amedeo Modigliani’s treasure: the Legal Archives are in fact a huge heritage of 6.000 documents (papers, letters, photographs, artifacts, sketches) that form the basis for certifying the authenticity of the Livorno painter’s works. “Whoever controls them,” Mondini and Loiodice wrote, “controls a multimillion-dollar business.”

The point is that the Archives have experienced gloomy happenings (unclear transfers of ownership, possibly illegal buying and selling, and whatnot) and even today it is unclear whose ownership of the patrimony of documents is clear(in this article we summarized the story). Now a new piece has been added to the story: the Bellinzona Public Prosecutor’s Office has in fact announced that it has seized the archives at the Geneva Free Port, with the aim of shedding light on the latest transfers of ownership of the collection.

“The news of the seizure in Switzerland of the so-called Modigliani Legal Archives, that is, the mass of documents and objects that belonged to the famous painter from Livorno or related to him collated over forty years by his daughter Jeanne,” said Margherita Corrado, “fills me with satisfaction and hope.” The delicate issue according to Corrado has been “buried because of the embarrassment of public offices that have been protagonists in a season of ambiguity and connivance even at the highest level,” and as mentioned above is the subject of a parliamentary question of hers that is still unanswered. “The seizure is, however, excellent news for the Italian state,” Corrado concludes, “provided that Franceschini’s Ministry, in addition to promoting the no longer procrastinable initiative to census the recognized forgeries of Modigliani, finally wants to take upon itself the honor and burden of a legacy that is very important on a cultural level, for which I have taken the liberty of suggesting that the city of Livorno should take the leading role, but very relevant above all on an economic level. The potential value of the Modigliani brand, which the Archives allow to be managed (the faculty of authentication of the works has much to do with the flourishing market of Modì fakes), is in fact estimated at 100 million euros.”

Modigliani Legal Archives seized in Switzerland, the basis for certifying his works

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