Two exceptional paintings by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) will go to auction for the first time this month, with Sotheby's offering a portrait of Raymond Radiguet (1903-1923) and a bust of Elvira, one of the artist's favorite models, painted in 1915 and between 1918-1919 respectively. Each work is estimated between 5.5 and 7 million euros and will be displayed free of charge from October 17-23 at 83 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, ahead of the "Modernities" sale taking place on October 24 during Paris Art Week, a major cultural event in the French capital.

The portrait of Raymond Radiguet captures a remarkable encounter between two shooting stars of Montparnasse. When he was just 12 years old, long before becoming the author of the legendary novels "The Devil in the Flesh" (1923) and "The Ball of Count Orgel" (1924), Raymond Radiguet was already mingling with the artists and poets of Montparnasse. During this period, the neighborhood experienced a breaking down of artistic barriers, although it was temporarily deserted by French artists who were mobilized on the front lines of World War I.

Modigliani represents the young prodigy and protégé of Jean Cocteau by capturing his brilliance in a portrait from his Cubist period. Having previously devoted himself to sculpture, the artist continued to be influenced by this movement. In this first known portrait of Radiguet, he employs diagonal lines and faceted planes to structure the young adolescent's face, using a palette of warm ochres, browns, and blues that highlights his talent as a colorist.

The painting serves as a perfect example of Modigliani's theory of the double gaze: "With one eye you look at the world; with the other, you look at yourself." Indeed, the boy's face presents one open eye and another closed. "In this painting, this double gaze takes on a prophetic dimension, as if the brilliant destiny of the young writer was already written in his eyes," Sotheby's explains in a statement. This asymmetry gives the portrait symbolic depth, between openness to the world and inner contemplation, seeming to sense the dark and brilliant destiny of his model while becoming a mirror of the painter himself.

The painting once belonged to Paul Guillaume (1891-1934), the Italian painter's first dealer, recently highlighted in the fascinating exhibition "Amedeo Modigliani. A Painter and His Dealer" at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. Max Jacob (1876-1944) introduced them in 1914, when Modigliani was in a very precarious situation and was involved with British poetess Beatrice Hastings, who was then very close to the poet. During the war, when the artist painted Raymond, both the young gallery owner and he were declared unfit for military service due to health reasons. Specialists estimate that more than 150 works by Modigliani passed through Paul Guillaume's hands.

The portrait of Raymond Radiguet has remained in the same European collection since 1950. First revealed in 1925 in the magazine "L'Amour de l'art," it has never been presented at auction and was last exhibited publicly during the Tate retrospective in London in 1963. "It is now an immense privilege for Sotheby's to unveil this masterpiece by Modigliani, a unique testimony to the face-to-face encounter between two brilliant meteors of the 20th century," rejoices Aurélie Vandevoorde, Vice President of Sotheby's France and co-director of the modern and contemporary art department.

The later work, "Bust of Elvira," is one of only two portraits of the young woman still held in private hands. Of the four known to date, one is held at the Saint Louis Art Museum (United States) and another at the Kunstmuseum in Bern (Switzerland). Here, Modigliani represents a young factory worker known only by her first name, recognizable by her black hair, who modestly wears a white shirt under her chest. Her stylized almond-shaped eyes recall the Dan and Baoulé masks and statuettes (Ivory Coast) or Fang (Gabon), which strongly inspired the artist.

Modigliani painted Elvira when he was staying in Cagnes-sur-Mer due to the deterioration of his health condition. In the south of France, he faced a shortage of available models and materials and changed his artistic practices. He began to represent young servants, workers, and peasants and captured the light of the Midi with diluted paint and different pigments. "Described by her contemporaries as a 'child of the people,' a 'living doll,' or a 'beautiful model with Italian blood,' Elvira remains an enigmatic figure, whose life and relationship with the artist remain largely unknown," explains Sotheby's. Her expression, both reserved and slightly distant, conveys a more subtle and developed individuality than in the Parisian nudes of 1916-1917. The facial features, refined and precise, contrast with the freer painting of the body and arms, while the background is sketched with speed.

"Bust of Elvira" belonged to Polish poet Leopold Zborowski (1889-1932), who became Modigliani's dealer and faithful friend from 1916. He organized the first and only solo exhibition of the artist during his lifetime, at Berthe Weill's gallery in 1917. The canvas then joined the collection of Polish woman Lunia Czechowska, a model and friend of the painter. Since the 1970s, it had been preserved in the same collection and was last exhibited to the public more than 50 years ago, according to Sotheby's. This marks the first time a portrait of this muse has been offered at auction.