Moïse Kisling 1891-1953

Galerie Motte, Geneva
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1971

Jean Kisling, Kisling, 1891-1953, Paris, 1971-1995, vol III, p. 134, no. 63, illustrated
Petit Palais Musee d'art Moderne Geneve, 1635 Oeuvres de l'Impressionnisme a l'ecole de Paris, Geneva, 1996, p. 119, no. 867, illustrated

Canvas has not been lined. Some craquelure to upper left quadrant. Slight surface soiling throughout. Under UV: Thin line of inpainting approximately 1 1/2 inch at far upper left corner. A small area of inpainting just below center. One small dot of inpainting at the lower left corner. Some dirt on surface of canvas fluoresces. Otherwise this work is in overall good condition.
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Moise Kisling was born in Krakov, Poland and started his art training at the local art academy. In 1910, he arrived in Paris and soon befriended Modigliani. It was quickly apparent that the French painter had a strong early influence on Kisling. This can be seen in the present work, with the very thin application of paint, the obvious hatching strokes and the warm and cool palette tones. 'In his design, Kisling allowed himself some freedom to rearrange his forms according to a style that remains his own and that expresses clearly his innate sensuality. His Jewish background never expressed in the choice of his subjects, but rather in his interpretation  of certain physical types, when he stresses their affinity with the models of Persian miniatures or Byzantine mosaics, thus orientalizing  all that he painted. (Cecil Roth, ed., Jewish Art, An Illustrated History, Tel Aviv, 1961, p.659).