Color lithograph, handmade paper Velin d`Arches, 27 x 20 in light passe - partout, signed on stone l.d. "Kisling" and p.d. "Marseille 1950"
The work comes from the portfolio "L`Epopee Bohemienne" (Gypsy Epic). 1959, edition of 230 pieces.
Mojżesz Kisling (born January 22, 1891 in Kraków, died April 29, 1953 in Sanary-sur-Mer) - Polish painter of Jewish origin.From 1907 to 1910 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków under Jozef Pankiewicz, after graduating together with Szymon Mondszajn he went to Paris. Mondszajn returned to Krakow for a year to complete his studies, while Moses remained in Paris and continued his studies there. He settled in Montmartre, in the famous "Bateau Lavoir", but in a short time established close contacts with the bohemia living in the Montparnasse district and moved there, settling in "La Ruche". He made contacts easily, so he quickly became a widely known artist, he was called the "Prince of Montparnasse". Among his friends were Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani and Chaim Soutine, who created in a similar style. He also maintained lively relations with other Polish émigrés, including Tadeusz Makowski, Eugeniusz Zak, Mela Muter, Roman Kramsztyk, Ludwik Markus, Jan Wacław Zawadowski, Szymon Mondszajn, Jan Hrynkowski. His work was noted by critics including André Salmon and Adolf Basler, who became his patron. He also received a stipend from an anonymous patron who came from Russia; later, Kisling's patron was the well-known art dealer and collector Leopold Zborowski. In 1912, together with Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris, he went to Céret, they returned in early 1913. After the outbreak of World War I, he joined the Foreign Legion as a volunteer, during the Battle of the Somme he was seriously wounded. He was granted French citizenship in 1915 and stayed in Spain for a year during his convalescence. In 1917 and 1920 he made artistic trips to the south of France, and in 1919 his first solo exhibition took place at Galerie Druet.
He established his own studio, through which many famous people passed, including Jean Cocteau, Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Rubinstein, Pierre Reverdy, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller etc. After 1920, he lived for a while with Ladislas Jahl, who came to Paris, one of his models was Kiki de Montparnasse. He was a member of the Trade Union of Polish Painters and Sculptors in Paris. Despite being surrounded by people everywhere he felt alienated. In his notes he wrote: "In Poland I am a Jew, among the Jews I am a French painter, and among the French I am a metek".After the outbreak of World War II, he joined the ranks of the French army, but after a few months he was transferred to the reserves. To avoid arrest in 1940 by Spain and Portugal he went to the United States, lived initially in New York, in 1942 invited by Arthur Rubinstein moved to Hollywood for a year. He returned to France in 1946 and settled in Sanary-sur-Mer, where he died in 1953.
Moïse Kisling is considered by critics to be one of the most outstanding representatives of the École de Paris. After arriving in Paris, his work was heavily influenced by the art of Paul Cézanne, but his contacts with the Cubists meant that his landscapes created in the south of France took on the geometrizing style known from the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, but the colors used were typical of the Fauvists. After 1917, he created eclectic landscapes using sharp, concrete colors juxtaposed by contrasts. From the early 1920s he became known as a portraitist, with numerous portraits and female nudes coming out from under his brush. Some created very realistically, others with nostalgic overtones, like those of Amedea Modigliani.
