Moïse Kisling facts for kids

Quick facts for kids 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(s)	Renée Kisling
Children	2

Moïse Kisling (born Mojżesz Kisling; 22 January 1891 – 29 April 1953) was a famous painter. He was born in Poland but later became a French citizen.

When he was 19, Moïse moved to Paris, France, in 1910. He joined the French Foreign Legion during World War I and was hurt. Because of his service, he became a French citizen in 1915. Later, during World War II, he moved to the United States in 1940. He came back to France in 1946.

Early Life and Studies

Moïse Kisling was born in Kraków, which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time. This was on January 22, 1891.

He studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. His teacher, Józef Pankiewicz, told him to go to Paris. Paris was a very important city for artists in the early 1900s.

In 1910, Kisling moved to Paris. He first lived in an area called Montmartre. A few years later, he moved to Montparnasse, another artistic part of the city.

Serving in the War

When World War I started, Moïse Kisling volunteered to join the French Foreign Legion. He was seriously wounded in 1916 during a big battle called the Battle of the Somme. After this, he was given French citizenship.

In 1916, he married Renée Gros. They had two sons, Jean and Guy, both born in 1922.

His Art Career

Kisling lived and worked in Montparnasse, Paris. This area was a lively place for artists from all over the world. Many artists from America, Britain, and Eastern Europe lived there.

In 1911 and 1912, he spent almost a year in a town called Céret. By 1913, he briefly lived in a famous building for artists called Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre.

Around 1913, he found a home and art studio at 3 Rue Joseph-Bara in Montparnasse. However, he spent a lot of time in Southern France during the 1920s. He kept his Paris home and studio through World War II. When he returned after the war, his studio had been robbed. Other famous artists like Jules Pascin, Léopold Zborowski, and Amedeo Modigliani also lived in the same building.

Kisling became good friends with many artists of his time. One of his close friends was Amedeo Modigliani, who painted a portrait of Kisling in 1916. Kisling's landscape paintings sometimes looked similar to the style of Marc Chagall.

During World War II

Even though he was 49 years old, Kisling volunteered for the army again in 1940 during World War II. After the French army was dismissed because France surrendered to Germany, Kisling moved to the United States. He was worried for his safety as a Jewish person in occupied France.

He showed his art in cities like New York City and Washington. He settled in Southern California and had his first art show there in 1942. The Kisling family lived next door to the writer Aldous Huxley and his family in California until 1946.

During the war, some people in France unfairly criticized foreign artists, especially Jewish ones. They said these artists were harming French traditions. This was part of a rise in unfair treatment against Jewish people during the German occupation. Many Jewish people were sent to concentration camps. After the war ended and Germany was defeated, Kisling returned to France.

Later Life and Legacy

Moïse Kisling passed away at his home in Bandol, France, on April 29, 1953. He had been sick for about ten days before he died.

Today, a street in the town of Sanary-sur-Mer is named after him.

His artwork can be seen in many public art museums around the world. These include the Harvard Art Museums, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, and the Israel Museum. A large collection of his paintings is also kept at the Musée du Petit Palais in Geneva, Switzerland.

Gallery

• Works
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  Moïse Kisling, 1916, La Sieste à Saint-Tropez (Kisling with Renée)

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  Moïse Kisling, 1917, Bateaux à voile, Saint Tropez

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  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

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  Moïse Kisling, c.1920, Le pêcheur (The Fisherman), oil on canvas, 82 x 61.7 cm, private collection

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  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)

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  Moïse Kisling, Nature morte (Still Life), published in Action, Cahiers Individualistes De Philosophie Et D’art, August 1921

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  Moïse Kisling, c.1919, Paysage de Provence, oil on canvas

• Depictions of the artist
• 

  Portrait of Kisling by Amedeo Modigliani

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  Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Moïse Kisling, 1918. Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France

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  Portrait of Moïse Kisling by Roman Kramsztyk, 1913

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  Moïse Kisling with fashion model Paquerette and Pablo Picasso, photographed by Jean Cocteau in 1916 at Café de la Rotonde, 105 Boulevard du Montparnasse, August 1916

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  Moïse Kisling, 1941

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  Commemorative plaque, 29 rue Campagne-Première, Paris, 75014

See also

In Spanish: Moïse Kisling para niños