How are you?
Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is
currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani one by one every week.
The 48th work to introduce for this
week is “Portrait of Moise Kisling” in 1915.
This work is a portrait of an
expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 37 x 28 cm,
and currently possessed by Palazzo Brera in Milan, Italy.
Moïse Kisling was a Polish-born French
painter who was born on January 22, 1891 and died on April 29, 1953. Born in Kraków, Poland, Kisling
studied at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków, where his teachers strongly encouraged
him to go to Paris, France, where was considered the center of the world in art
at the time.
Moïse Kisling (c.1916)
In 1910, Kisling left Poland and
moved to Montmartre in Paris, and then to Montparnasse a few years later. Like many others, he was introduced
by Andre Salmon and Max Jacob to the painters from around the world, especially
Picasso, Modigliani and Pascin. In 1913, Kisling took a studio in
Montparnasse, and became close friends with many contemporary artists,
including Modigliani, who painted his portraits.
When World War I broke out, Kisling
enlisted voluntarily in French Army and was seriously wounded in the battle in
1915 and consequently discharged. Then, he received French citizenship from the
French government. Kisling again volunteered for army
during World War II in 1940. However, when the French Army was defeated by the
Germans, Kisling, who was afraid of his own safety in the occupied France
because he was a Jew, moved to the United States. He had exhibitions in New
York City and Washington in the United States, settled in California, and lived
there until 1946.
La Sieste à Saint-Tropez (Kisling with Renée), Moïse Kisling (1916)
After the war, Kisling, who
returned to France, died on April 29, 1953, in Sanary-sur-Mer, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte
d'Azur in France.
By the age of 19, Kisling was
already keeping his family with income from his painting. Kisling, one of
Modigliani's best friends, and his wife, Renée, often became models of
Modigliani and continued to help him, especially from 1916. He shared his
studio on rue Joseph-Bara with Modigliani, paid for his meals, and provided him
with painting materials. Modigliani painted the portrait of Jean Cocteau and
the double portrait of Lipchitz and his wife in the studio.
Portrait of Jean Cocteau, Amedeo Modigliani (1916)
Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz, Amedeo Modigliani (1916)
Shortly after Modigliani's death at
the Charity Hospital in Paris, Kisling made a death mask for Modigliani, and Lipchitz
cast 12 of them in bronze for Modigliani's closest friends. Kisling summed up his philosophy as
"We work, we eat, we drink, we work, we make very good food, and we get
married. That's all.”
Death Mask of Amedeo Modigliani
In 1915, Modigliani produced a
series of small portraits reflecting the warm friendship with models who had
good relationships with him.
Looking at the portrait of Kisling
introduced today, his appearance looks like a schoolboy. Also, unlike Modigliani's
style, simply treating the background and other parts of the model except the
face to focus the viewers' attention on the model's face, this work seems to
emphasize the outside of the model's face due to the white collar and red tie. The model's calm and pensive expression,
and large almond-shaped eyes give the viewers an intense impression.
The features of this work are that,
unlike other works of Modigliani, this work has the model's square face which almost
entirely filled the canvas and he did not paint the model with the elongated
face that usually appears in his portraits. Modigliani also simplified almost
all of the lines in the work to create a caricatural feel, but the simplicity
of the lines gives a more emphasis on the model's gaze.
Modigliani seems to show off his
firm friendship with Kisling by drawing this work in a direct and
uncompromising way. Also, from Modigliani's painting
style, drawing eyes with no pupils or blurring eyes when the model's character,
personality, or sincerity are uncertain, he drew the model's eyes and pupils
accurately and clearly in this work. It seems to emphasize the belief and
confidence about Kisling and the faithful and firm friendship of the two.
Thank you.
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