Footnotes

Provenance
Me Blanche, Versailles, 7th June 1978
Sotheby's Tel Aviv, 24th May 1987, lot 319
Sotheby's London, Impressionist and Modern Art, 20 June 2012, lot 402
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

Literature
Jean Kisling, Kisling 1891-1953, Turin, 1982, vol. II, no. 58, illustrated p. 270



Moïse Kisling, son of a tailor, attended the School of Fine Arts in Krakow before moving to Paris in 1910. Once settled in the district of Montparnasse, he quickly associated himself with Picasso, Juan Gris, Max Jacob, and Manolo.

In 1912, he met in Céret his first dealer, Adolphe Basler, who bought all of his paintings in exchange for a monthly payment of 300 francs. When he got back in Paris, he moved into a studio at 3 rue Joseph-Bara where Modigliani, Soutine, Derain, and Juan Gris used to meet. Pascin and the Kroghs, father and son, lived in the same building. He attended Baronness Hélene d'Oettingen's famous parties, which were the literary and artistic centre of Montparnasse until 1914.

Kisling was caught out by the outbreak of World War I, as he was visiting Belgium with Basler. He returned to France in order to enlist in the French Foreign Legion. He was wounded in 1915 and discharged from service. On his return to Montparnasse he was surprised to discover that a young American soldier who died during the war had bequeathed 25,000 francs to him. He visited Spain, returned to Paris and met the art dealer Zborowski. In 1919, the Druet Gallery organized his first exhibition. His paintings were a success, and his models were the stars of the time: Falconetti, Valentine Tessier, Arletty, Cocteau, Colette, Marie Laurencin, and Kiki de Montparnasse. When World War II broke out, Kisling went to live in his house in Sanary-sur-Mer. In 1940, he left for New York. He returned to France in August 1946 and went to Sanary, where he lived until his death.

We are grateful to Nadine Nieszawer for their assistance in cataloguing this lot.