Moïse Kisling

Early life and education

Born in Kraków, Austria-Hungary on 22 January 1891 to Jewish parents. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow with Jozef Pankiewicz. His teachers encouraged the young man to go to Paris, France, considered the international center for artistic creativity in the early 20th century. In 1910, Kisling moved to Montmartre in Paris initially living on Rue des Beaux-Arts, and a few years later to Montparnasse.

At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for service in the French Foreign Legion. He was seriously wounded in 1916 in the Battle of the Somme. He married Renée Kisling (née Gros) in 1916, and together they had two sons, Jean (1922) and Guy Kisling (1922). He acquired French nationality by naturalization in 1924.

Career

Kisling lived and worked in Montparnasse and as part of its renowned artistic community, he joined an émigré community of Americans, British and Eastern European artists. Most of the French kept to themselves, although the artistic community was international. In 1911–1912 he spent nearly a year at Céret, and by 1913, he had moved to Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre, where he lived briefly.

Eventually around 1913, he took a home residence and art studio on 3 Rue Joseph-Bara in Montparnasse, however he spent a lot of his time in Southern France in the 1920s. Kisling maintained the Paris residence and studio on Rue Joseph-Bara through World War II, and upon his return after the war it had been ransacked. The artists Jules Pascin, Léopold Zborowski, and later Amedeo Modigliani lived in the same building.

He became close friends with many of his contemporaries, including Amedeo Modigliani, who painted a portrait of him in 1916 (in the collection of the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris). His style in painting landscapes is similar to that of Marc Chagall. A master at depicting the female body, his surreal nudes and portraits earned him the widest acclaim.

Kisling volunteered for army service again in 1940 during World War II, although he was 49. When the French Army was discharged after the surrender to the Germans, Kisling emigrated to the United States. He rightly feared for his safety as a Jew in occupied France. He exhibited in New York City and Washington. He settled in Southern California, and had his first art exhibition there in 1942. The Kisling family lived next door to Aldous Huxley and his family in Southern California, where they remained until 1946.

Under the Vichy government, certain critics suggested too many foreigners, especially Jews, were diminishing French traditions. Their comments were part of a rise in anti-Semitism during the German occupation, resulting in French cooperation in the deportation and deaths of tens of thousands of foreign and French Jews in concentration camps. Kisling returned to France after the war and defeat of Germany.

Death and legacy

Moïse Kisling died at his house in Bandol, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France on 29 April 1953. He had been ill with stomach issues for ten days, prior to his death. His work is in various public museum collections, including at the Harvard Art Museums, British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, the Israel Museum, Ikeda 20 Seiki Museum, amongst others. A large collection of Kisling's works is held by the Musée du Petit Palais in Geneva, Switzerland.

Gallery

File:Moise Kisling, 1916, La Sieste à Saint-Tropez, Kisling avec Renée.jpg|Moïse Kisling, 1916, La Sieste à Saint-Tropez (Kisling with Renée) File:Moïse Kisling, Portrait du peintre (Autoportrait), oil on canvas, 81.3 x 60.3 cm, private collection.jpg|Moïse Kisling, Portrait du peintre (Autoportrait), oil on canvas, 81.3 x 60.3 cm, private collection. Published in Action: Cahiers Individualistes de Philosophie et d'art, July 1920 File:Moïse Kisling, c.1920, Le pêcheur (The Fisherman), oil on canvas, 82 x 61.7 cm, private collection.jpg|Moïse Kisling, c.1920, Le pêcheur (The Fisherman), oil on canvas, 82 x 61.7 cm, private collection File:Moise Kisling, Nature morte. Reproduced in André Salmon, L'Art Vivant, Artistes d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, 1920.jpg|Moïse Kisling, Nature morte, before 1920. Reproduced in André Salmon, L'Art Vivant, Artistes d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, 1920 (black and white photograph) File:Moïse Kisling, 1921, Nu assis, oil on canvas, private collection.jpg|Moïse Kisling, 1921, Nu assis, oil on canvas, private collection File:Moïse Kisling, Nature morte (Still Life), Action, Cahiers Individualistes De Philosophie Et D’art, August 1921.jpg|Moïse Kisling, Nature morte (Still Life), published in Action, Cahiers Individualistes De Philosophie Et D'art, August 1921

File:'Paysage de Provence', oil on canvas painting by Moïse Kisling, c. 1919.jpg|Moïse Kisling, c.1919, Paysage de Provence, oil on canvas

File:Amedeo Modigliani 032.jpg|Portrait of Kisling by Amedeo Modigliani File:Modigliani.Moise Kisling.JPG|Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Moïse Kisling, 1918. Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France File:Roman Kramsztyk Portrait Moise Kisling 1913.jpg|Portrait of Moïse Kisling by Roman Kramsztyk, 1913 File:Pablo-Picasso-Moise-Kisling-Paquerette-Cafe-la-Rotonde-paris-1916.jpg|Moïse Kisling with fashion model Paquerette and Pablo Picasso, photographed by Jean Cocteau in 1916 at Café de la Rotonde, 105 Boulevard du Montparnasse, August 1916 File:Portrait of Moïse Kisling LCCN2004663135.jpg|Moïse Kisling, 1941 File:Plaque Hôtel Istria, 29 rue Campagne-Première, Paris 14.jpg|Commemorative plaque, 29 rue Campagne-Première, Paris, 75014

Selected exhibitions

• Galerie Jean Pascaud (Paris), with Jacques Henri Lartigue, Paul Colin, Marie Laurencin, Henri Lebasque, and Marcel Roche from November 14 to 29, 1934.
• "The Last Works of Kisling," Museum of Old Marseille (Marseille), from September 13 to 30, 1953.
• "Kisling, Major Figure of the School of Paris," Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum (Tokyo), from April 20 to July 7, 2019

References

References

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