Passionate Frenchman

One of the sharpest blades in 1920 Paris was a young Polish-born painter named Moise Kisling. He wore his hair in a fringe, would duel at the drop of a beret, threw strenuous parties in his shabby studios. "He's the swellest guy in the world," wrote Kiki, queen of the Montparnasse models, in her diary. Kisling returned the compliment by faithfully reproducing her generous curves in his solidly painted canvases. Last week Artist Kisling, now an energetic 60, was having his first Paris show in 15 years. To replace Kiki and his other Montparnasse models, he had called in the peasant girls from around his present-day home in Southern France. Their curves had the same healthy abundance, their flesh the same pearly hue. Interspersed among the show's buxom nudes were blossom-filled landscapes, luminous still lifes. These are strictly change of pace. "When I paint a nude," says Kisling, "I hunger to paint a landscape; when I paint a landscape, I hunger to paint a bunch of flowers." But he admits that his "grand passion" in life is "the women."

Critics and art collectors, who had snapped up all but six by week's end, thought the new Kislings better than ever. Wrote Critic Jean Bouret of Arts: "How simple good painting is. It is not to be found in discussions, in estheticism, in intellect, but in sensualism, joy and serenity." The France Soir's critic called Kisling the "painter of happiness and tenderness . . . The only Central European painter who has not brought us morose complexes."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.