Moïse Kisling (born Mojżesz Kisling; 22 January 1891 – 29 April 1953) was a Polish-born French painter.[1][2] He moved to Paris in 1910 at the age of 19, and became a French citizen in 1915, after serving and being wounded with the French Foreign Legion in World War I. He emigrated to the United States in 1940, after the fall of France, and returned there in 1946.

Moïse Kisling
Moïse Kisling, c.1916
Born	Mojżesz Kisling 22 January 1891 Kraków, Grand Duchy of Cracow, Austria-Hungary
Died	29 April 1953(1953-04-29) (aged 62) Bandol, France
Nationality	Polish, French
Other names	Maurice Kisling, Kiki Kisling
Known for	Painting
Spouse	Renée Kisling
Children	2

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.[3][4] 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,[5] and a few years later to Montparnasse.

At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for service in the French Foreign Legion. After being seriously wounded in 1916 in the Battle of the Somme, he was awarded French citizenship.[6]

He married Renée Kisling (née Gros) in 1916, and together they had two sons, Jean (1922) and Guy Kisling (1922).[7][8]

Career

Kisling lived and worked in Montparnasse as part of its renowned artistic community, he joined an émigré community made up of artists from eastern Europe as well as Americans and British.[3] Most of the French kept to themselves, although the artistic community was international. In 1911–1912 he spent nearly a year at Céret.^{[citation needed]} And by 1913, he had moved to Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre, where he lived briefly.[5]

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.[5] 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.[5] The artists Jules Pascin, Léopold Zborowski,[9][10] 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 at the time of 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.[11] The Kinsling family lived next door to Aldous Huxley and his family in Southern California,[7] where they stayed there until 1946.

Under the Vichy government, certain critics suggested too many foreigners, especially Jews, were diminishing French traditions.[12] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Death and legacy

Moïse Kisling died at his house in Bandol, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France on 29 April 1953.[3][13][14] He had been ill with stomach issues for ten days, prior to his death.[13][14]

A residential street in the town of Sanary-sur-Mer is named after him.^{[citation needed]}

His work is in various public museum collections, including at the Harvard Art Museums,[15] British Museum,[16] the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[17] Tokyo Fuji Art Museum,[18] the Israel Museum,[19] Ikeda 20 Seiki Museum,[20] amongst others. A large collection of Kisling's works is held by the Musée du Petit Palais in Geneva, Switzerland.[21]

Gallery

• Works
• 
  Moïse Kisling, 1916, La Sieste à Saint-Tropez (Kisling with Renée)
• 
  Moïse Kisling, 1917, Bateaux à voile, Saint Tropez
• 
  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
• 
  Moïse Kisling, c.1920, Le pêcheur (The Fisherman), oil on canvas, 82 x 61.7 cm, private collection
• 
  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)
• 
  Moïse Kisling, 1921, Nu assis, oil on canvas, private collection
• 
  Moïse Kisling, Nature morte (Still Life), published in Action, Cahiers Individualistes De Philosophie Et D’art, August 1921
• 
  Moïse Kisling, c.1919, Paysage de Provence, oil on canvas

• Depictions of the artist
• 
  Portrait of Kisling by Amedeo Modigliani
• 
  Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Moïse Kisling, 1918. Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France
• 
  Portrait of Moïse Kisling by Roman Kramsztyk, 1913
• 
  Pablo Picasso, Moïse Kisling and fashion model Paquerette photographed by Jean Cocteau in 1916 at Café de la Rotonde, 105 Boulevard du Montparnasse, August 1916
• 
  Moïse Kisling, 1941
• 
  Commemorative plaque, 29 rue Campagne-Première, Paris, 75014

References

External links

• Works by or about Moïse Kisling at Internet Archive
• Moïse Kisling at Find a Grave
• Agence photo de la Réunion des musées nationaux RMN
• Moïse Kisling in American public collections, on the French Sculpture Census website

На других языках

[de] Moise Kisling

[es] Moïse Kisling

[fr] Moïse Kisling

[it] Moïse Kisling

[ru] Кислинг, Моисей