Pierre-Ernest Kohl, Portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse, 1931, Oil on Canvas, Framed

Description

"Portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse” Pierre-Ernest Kohl, Expressionism, 1931 – France
Extraordinary expressionist work by the renowned Monegasque artist Pierre-Ernest … more "Portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse” Pierre-Ernest Kohl, Expressionism, 1931 – France
Extraordinary expressionist work by the renowned Monegasque artist Pierre-Ernest Kohl (1897-1987). It is a portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse, in its original carved and gilded wooden frame. The composition focuses on the female figure of Kiki, presented with her characteristic features: kohl-lined eyes, deep red painted lips, and a bowl-short pony. You can barely perceive what she is wearing, since she hides under a large fur coat that she used to wear, according to the stories of the artists who shared her life. Despite being a sweet portrait, especially noticeable in her idealized face, she appears showing a breast, which refers directly to the sexual debauchery of Kiki, the great muse of Montparnasse. It is a portrait captured from nature, through a synthetic language, with energetic and well-controlled strokes, which seeks above all to capture the volumetry and geometric play, while maintaining descriptive details that avoid the loss of realism. Thanks to the dispersed drawing and the thick lines of the brush strokes, a clear influence of the post-impressionist forms of great painters such as Paul Cézanne, Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard can be seen in this work. The gaze, perhaps melancholic, is lost to the left, as if observing something outside the canvas that escapes the viewer's knowledge.

On the banks of the Seine stands a small hill known as Montparnasse, which acquired great importance in the 19th century and, above all, in the first two decades of the 20th century. The most vocal artists settled in this neighborhood, far from traditions. Artists of all genres (painters, sculptors, writers) attracted by the promise of freedom and full personal fulfillment. Kiki, born Alice Ernestine Prinue (1901-1953), was the queen of that neighborhood. In the words of Ernest Hemingway “she was wonderful to see. Her face being naturally pretty, she had turned it into a work of art. "She had a prodigiously beautiful body and a pleasant voice." As the great muse of so many artists, Kiki has come to symbolize everything that Montparnasse offered: strength and vulnerability, freedom and decadence.

Signed in the lower right area. The frame has a small accident in one corner that is easy to repair.

Author biography

Pierre Ernest Kohl (1897 - 1987) was a painter born on February 3, 1897 in Monaco, his grandfather was the founder of the famous Monte Carlo Casino. His father was a director of large hotels, born in Germany, of French maternal descent; and his mother, born Schneider, of English maternal descent. Pierre Kohl's early youth was a perpetual journey through his family's hotel resorts; restless character that always accompanied him, since Kohl himself writes that he moved twenty-four times throughout his life. He made numerous and frequent trips throughout Europe.

from 1920 to 1938, Kohl lived in Paris. The most famous salons and galleries exhibited his works alongside those of Braque, Chagall, Cocteau, Dignimont, Derain, Foujita, Othon Friesz, Goerg, Gromaire, Kisling, Laprade, Lhote, Lurçat, Pascin, Picasso, Soutine, Utrillo, Suzanne Valadon , Modigliani, Vlaminck.

Few Swiss painters can be as proud of this as he is: of having participated in Paris in the fight for a freer, less conformist and less naturalistic society. Painting made by the great painters of the School of Paris during the important period for the history of art between the wars. Kohl was involved in this ferment and was one of the pioneers who revolutionized official and frozen art. If he did not want, like so many others, to take the step of abstract art to be fashionable, except in some rare attempts such as the stained glass windows he made for the baptistery of the Glovelier church in the Jura.

Received in November 1952 at the Var Academy (1805). In 1956 he was nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor. One of his works is exhibited at the Pompidou Center in Paris.

Chronology

1909. Arrival in Lausanne. His parents became Swiss citizens in 1913 and acquired the bourgeoisie of Lausanne, where they long ran the Ste-Luce hotel residence in Petit-Chêne.
1910. He carried out industrial studies in Lausanne.
1915. One year internship as a designer-architect at the Monod & Laverrière workshop in Lausanne, then he studied Fine Arts at the Loup Academy in Lausanne.
1919. He married Marguerite Kendal-Bush, of Anglo-American origin, on September 19. Moves to Geneva, rue du Soleil Levant.
1920. He settles in Bern, on Gerechtigkeits gasse and, in 1923, on Junkerngasse.
1923. Painting works in Paris, exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, at the Salon des Tuileries, and at the Salon d'Automne. Individual exhibitions under contract at the CARMINE Gallery, 51 rue de Seine in Paris, until the death of the Owner, with Pascin Astoy, Corbellini, Demeurisse, Osterlind, Piza, Ralli, Tolado.
1924. Moves to Paris, rue Turgot.
1927. Exhibition at Bernheim-Jeune in Paris.
1928. The French State acquires one of his works for the Orangerie Museum.
1929. He settles in a private mansion on rue Lauriston, where his son Pieter Kendal-Kohl is born.
1930. Exhibition at the Barreiro gallery 30 rue de Seine.
1932. Exhibited at the Galerie Charpentier in Paris, regularly until 1936. Exhibited in Japan.
1936. He divorced Marguerite Weinberg, who remarried. He marries Suzanne Spingler and moves to Fuente Street. He leaves Paris and travels through Europe and North Africa.
1937. Moved to Biot, in the Maritime Alps.
1939. His son Erie Kohl is born in Paris on March 31.
1940. Moved to Villeneuve s/Yonne and then to Thorens Haute-Savoie. And he returned to Switzerland and stayed there throughout the war.
1942. He settles in Geneva, Avenue Léon Gaud.
1943. Exhibition at the Lausanne Book Guild.
1945. After his release, he returned to France, to Craon, then to Villeneuve.
1948. He settles in Brusc, in “Guitoune”, near Sanary, and takes up pottery after his meeting with Picasso.
1949. He divorces Suzanne, marries Madame Vve Marguerite Poupon, née Sachs, who left him widowed on December 22, 1962. He becomes president of the Society of Painters, Sculptors and Architects of Provence. Exhibitions: Galerie Weill (Paris), Étienne Gallery (Toulon).
1952. Elected member of the Var Academy, founded in 1805. Exhibitions: Salon de Sanary, Salon de Toulon, Salon de Saint-Tropez, Galerie Chédel Geneva.
1953. Exhibition at the Guilde du Livre, in Lausanne.
1957. Aktuaryus Gallery Exhibition, Strasbourg.
1960. Exhibition at the Toulon Museum.
1960. Death of his son Pieter Kendhal-Kohl.
1963. After a loss, he returned to Switzerland and settled in the Jura, making some stained glass windows for the Glovelier church.
1964. The Ministry of the Interior acquires a work for the Confederation. Exhibition: Bloch Gallery, Delémont.
1965. He moved to Neuchâtel and married Jacqueline Rieckel, a descendant of Fritz Courvoisier. Exhibition: Galerie Chédel, Geneva.
1967. Exhibition: Véandre Gallery, Payerne.
968. Exhibition: Galerie Socrate, Bienne. Exhibition: Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Zurich.
1969. Exhibition: Reymond Gallery, Neuchâtel.
1976. Borki Langenthal Workshop-Gallery.
1983. Exhibition: Galerie Cartier rue haute 7.
1987. Died near Lake Neuchâtel.


Technique on support: Oil on canvas
Title of the work: “Kiki de Montparnasse”
Author: Pierre-Ernest Kohl
Signed in the lower right corner
Style: Expressionism
Year: 1931
Country of origin: France
Minor faults that do not interfere with the overall vision of the whole
Overall dimensions: 91 x 70 cm.
Dimensions without frame: 71 x 53 cm.

The frame that protects the work is offered as a gift, but has value in itself. It is provided at no additional cost so that when your artwork arrives at your home or destination it can be displayed immediately. Any damage to the frame itself, which does not affect the integrity of the artwork, cannot be accepted as a valid reason to open a claim or request a cancellation. This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution less