ALICE PRIN

or

KIKI DE MONTPARNASSE

“The most memorable image is Man Ray’s photograph Le Violon D'Ingres, which shows a naked Kiki, seated and viewed from behind, with two ‘f’s in her back; a celebration of her violin-curves, and a statement that she was, in effect, an instrument for the creation of art.

Kiki and Man Ray were lovers for six years, during which time he made hundreds of images of her, and was hugely influential in the creation of her persona. Kay Boyle, a Paris-based American novelist and contemporary of Kiki’s, wrote that, “Man Ray had designed Kiki’s face for her … and painted it on with his own hand. He would begin by shaving her eyebrows off … and then putting other eyebrows back, in any colour he might have selected for her mask that day … Her heavy eyelids might be done in copper one day and in royal blue another, or else in silver or jade.”

Despite their intense connection, Kiki ultimately went too far for Man Ray. When a cafe-owner in Nice called her a whore, she got into a fight, and was thrown into jail: Man Ray’s lawyer could only secure her release by producing a doctor’s certificate stating that she had a nervous disorder. Soon afterwards, Man Ray left Kiki for his photographic protege, Lee Miller. He broke the news to Kiki at one of their regular cafe haunts, and was forced to duck under a table while she hurled plates at his head.” – Anna Davis, The Guardian

(photos: man ray)

“All I need is an onion, a bit of bread, a bottle of red, and I will always find somebody to offer me that.”  – Alice Prin (Kiki de Montparnasse)

(painting: kees van dongen)

Kiki - Man Ray

Kiki De Montparnasse - Man Ray