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Lot Essay
You have, my dear Kiki, such beautiful eyes, that the world as seen through them must be very pretty. What do you see? A grassy prairie in a calm golden valley from which you can hear the murmuring sea. In the blue sky there are sleepy willowy trees, in the green grass there are nude women, in the air are simple melodies that speak of melancholic love, and whose refrain when it brings us to Paris is sad like the summer sun on the rue du Quatre-Septembre. Many storms threaten the sky. The ocean waves curl like a lioness lying low, while nightmares assail the sleeping beauties. You hide your head under the covers and cover your ears. In the morning, the wind disperses the last few clouds, the ocean is curled into small waves and a rainbow mirrors itself in your pretty eyes... Sometimes a traveler comes back from America.... This valley you have created, it's a world you see far from here, although you thrive in Paris, a city you won't leave, whose nights are familiar to you, with alcohol, feverish music, and its wonderful dances. Here or far away, my dear Kiki, through your beautiful eyes, the world is beautiful.
(Robert Desnos, introduction, exhibition catalogue of Kiki's paintings at Sacre du Printemps, Paris, March 25 - April 9, 1927)
The seven year affair between Kiki of Montparnasse and Man Ray, the American expatriate artist in Paris, is now the stuff of legend. It happened in a place and at a time when redefining the moment occurred freely and with no other purpose than to re-negotiate the social, artistic and intellectual groundwork left after the devastation of World War I. The coupling of Montparnasse's most fanciful personality and Dada's most recent emigré seems like a love story foretold. Man Ray arrived in Paris in July, 1921, already a welcome addition to the avant-garde, due to Duchamp's advance preparations. Shortly thereafter Kiki and Man Ray met, falling in love. Kiki became Man Ray's first and most famous model and muse, occupying a significant portion of his time and groundglass. Many of Man Ray's most memorable photographs of the period from 1921 to 1928 feature Kiki including Le Violon d'Ingres (see: Lot 15) and of course, Noire et Blanche.
"Kiki" was born Alice Ernestine Prin, October 2, 1901, the illegitimate child of Marie Prin, a linotypist, and Maxime Legros, a coal manufacturer in the small town of Châtillon-sur-Seine in Burgundy. Raised by her grandmother she joined her mother in Paris at age twelve. At sixteen, her mother threw her out for accepting work as an artist's model (Kiki's Paris, pp. 60, 86). This was, for all intents and purposes, the beginning of Kiki of Montparnasse, a figure of legendary proportions during her lifetime. As a model she posed for many of the Montparnasse artists of the period, though that was hardly her only talent. Well known and loved as a bon-vivant, Kiki was a cabaret singer, film actress and painter as well.
Noire et Blanche was first published in the Paris Vogue in May, 1926 ("Les Photographies de Man Ray", p. 154) and two years later in Variétés, July, 1928. (See: Christie's, New York, April 20, 1994, Lot 30). The print of Noire et Blanche offered here, naïvely adorned with the elusive inscription in Kiki's girlish hand (see: Kiki Souvenir, "Mon Enfance En Bourgogne", p. 75 for an excellent example of her handwriting reproduced from a diary page) is most certainly a very early printing of the negative. It is, in fact, not unreasonable to assume it to be one of the first, and not only due to the relationship between artist and model. There are several other points to consider in dating the print. With the far left corner of the table visible, this is the least cropped version of the negative known, indicating an early interpretation. In subsequent printings from the negative Man Ray invariably chose a tighter portion of the negative.
As well, the paper on which this print was made matches (closely enough to assume it to be the same) that of the print in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, a gift of James Thrall Soby. In addition, the two prints are identical in their vertical dimension, though the museum's print is truncated, width-wise, cropping the edge of the table.
Lastly, Man Ray was apparently unhappy with the wisp of hair which breaks the sensuous curve of Kiki's left ear. That detail, and a tiny mole on her neck below her chin, are retouched on this print's surface. Shortly after making the image, he retouched the negative itself, adding the practice of highlighting prints to mask the effect. (This was done with great expertise, as the print referenced in the April 20, 1994 sale is testament to.)
In 1926, Kiki was featured in Man Ray's second cinematic effort, the Surrealist short, Emak Bakia, named after the film's producer's estate where it was filmed. In the last sequence of the film, Kiki appears in close-up, eyes wide open momentarily. Demurely, she shuts them, only to reveal painted on her eyelids an additional pair, giving the illusion that though shut, her eyes remain open (see illustration below). Could it be that Asta Nielsen (1883-1972), the older and more experienced silent film era star was a coach to Kiki's acting ambitions? It would seem that the parting frames of Emak Bakia refer back to Noire et Blanche and perhaps Kiki's elusive inscription resolves one mystery by adding another - an appropriate memento for the time.
(Robert Desnos, introduction, exhibition catalogue of Kiki's paintings at Sacre du Printemps, Paris, March 25 - April 9, 1927)
The seven year affair between Kiki of Montparnasse and Man Ray, the American expatriate artist in Paris, is now the stuff of legend. It happened in a place and at a time when redefining the moment occurred freely and with no other purpose than to re-negotiate the social, artistic and intellectual groundwork left after the devastation of World War I. The coupling of Montparnasse's most fanciful personality and Dada's most recent emigré seems like a love story foretold. Man Ray arrived in Paris in July, 1921, already a welcome addition to the avant-garde, due to Duchamp's advance preparations. Shortly thereafter Kiki and Man Ray met, falling in love. Kiki became Man Ray's first and most famous model and muse, occupying a significant portion of his time and groundglass. Many of Man Ray's most memorable photographs of the period from 1921 to 1928 feature Kiki including Le Violon d'Ingres (see: Lot 15) and of course, Noire et Blanche.
"Kiki" was born Alice Ernestine Prin, October 2, 1901, the illegitimate child of Marie Prin, a linotypist, and Maxime Legros, a coal manufacturer in the small town of Châtillon-sur-Seine in Burgundy. Raised by her grandmother she joined her mother in Paris at age twelve. At sixteen, her mother threw her out for accepting work as an artist's model (Kiki's Paris, pp. 60, 86). This was, for all intents and purposes, the beginning of Kiki of Montparnasse, a figure of legendary proportions during her lifetime. As a model she posed for many of the Montparnasse artists of the period, though that was hardly her only talent. Well known and loved as a bon-vivant, Kiki was a cabaret singer, film actress and painter as well.
Noire et Blanche was first published in the Paris Vogue in May, 1926 ("Les Photographies de Man Ray", p. 154) and two years later in Variétés, July, 1928. (See: Christie's, New York, April 20, 1994, Lot 30). The print of Noire et Blanche offered here, naïvely adorned with the elusive inscription in Kiki's girlish hand (see: Kiki Souvenir, "Mon Enfance En Bourgogne", p. 75 for an excellent example of her handwriting reproduced from a diary page) is most certainly a very early printing of the negative. It is, in fact, not unreasonable to assume it to be one of the first, and not only due to the relationship between artist and model. There are several other points to consider in dating the print. With the far left corner of the table visible, this is the least cropped version of the negative known, indicating an early interpretation. In subsequent printings from the negative Man Ray invariably chose a tighter portion of the negative.
As well, the paper on which this print was made matches (closely enough to assume it to be the same) that of the print in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, a gift of James Thrall Soby. In addition, the two prints are identical in their vertical dimension, though the museum's print is truncated, width-wise, cropping the edge of the table.
Lastly, Man Ray was apparently unhappy with the wisp of hair which breaks the sensuous curve of Kiki's left ear. That detail, and a tiny mole on her neck below her chin, are retouched on this print's surface. Shortly after making the image, he retouched the negative itself, adding the practice of highlighting prints to mask the effect. (This was done with great expertise, as the print referenced in the April 20, 1994 sale is testament to.)
In 1926, Kiki was featured in Man Ray's second cinematic effort, the Surrealist short, Emak Bakia, named after the film's producer's estate where it was filmed. In the last sequence of the film, Kiki appears in close-up, eyes wide open momentarily. Demurely, she shuts them, only to reveal painted on her eyelids an additional pair, giving the illusion that though shut, her eyes remain open (see illustration below). Could it be that Asta Nielsen (1883-1972), the older and more experienced silent film era star was a coach to Kiki's acting ambitions? It would seem that the parting frames of Emak Bakia refer back to Noire et Blanche and perhaps Kiki's elusive inscription resolves one mystery by adding another - an appropriate memento for the time.