Oil on canvas

54 × 65 cm. 21 1/4 x 25 1/2 in.

Signed and dated on lower left
Signed， located and dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Galerie Bing, Paris
Private Collection, Switzerland （acquired from the above in 1929）
22 Jun 2004, Sotheby's London Spring Auction, Lot 165
Important Private Collection, Asia

Beautiful, unrestrained, stunning
Nature Morte by the Uncrowned King of Montparnasse, Moïse Kisling
Oh, do I love life!
—Moïse Kisling
Kisling, originally from Poland, was 20 when he started to study art in his hometown of Kraków. His talent and outstanding painting skills were appreciated by his first art teacher, Józef Pankiewicz, who, deeply influenced by Impressionism, had a good personal relationship with Pierre-A. Renoir. Therefore, when Kisling graduated, he decided to take Pankiewicz's advise to choose Paris, the capital of art, instead of following the local trend of studying in Germany. After arriving at Paris, he first settled in Montmartre and then moved to Montparnasse, where for 27 years he led a wonderful life.
As early as the 1910s, Montparnasse became the new center of Parisian art and attracted artists from all over the world. They were full of enthusiasm and strived to liberate themselves from the shackles of local culture, and Montparnasse, with its unrestrained atmosphere and cheap lofts （suitable for art studios）, was a perfect place for those people from different cultural backgrounds to interact with each other. It is worth mentioning that artists who have been hailed by art history scholars as belonging to the École de Paris, also met in Montparnasse. Among them were Pablo Picasso from Spain, Marc Chagall from Russia, Amedeo Modigliani from Italy, Chaim Sutin from Lithuania, Sanyu and Pan Yuliang from China, Tsuguharu Foujita from Japan and a local Parisian, Henri Matisse. Yet another École de Paris representative that cannot be ignored was Moïse Kisling from Poland.
The King of Montparnasse
The First World War broke out in July 1914, and it began to hit France shortly after Kisling had settled in Montparnasse. In 1915, he enlisted voluntarily to resist the German invasion of France. In the same year, he was shot and wounded on the battlefield. For his heroism, he was granted French nationality, and it also gave him the opportunity to meet Renée Gros, daughter of a senior cavalry officer, with whom he fell in love and who became his wife in the future. Out of his time in Montparnasse, 1917 was Kisling's happiest year； after his friend Modigliani was acclaimed the “Prince of Montparnasse”, the art journalists began calling Kisling the “King of Montparnasse.” In August of the same year, he married Gros. Due to his popularity, the wedding party became a three day and night-long carnival that spread out to Montparnasse's cafés, bars, brothels, and even to his studio. The Nature Morte, featured in this auction, was created in the late fall of 1917, two months after his wedding.
Meaningful movement of life
Just as Kisling's portraits of women and depictions of flowers, his still lifes are also extremely attractive. Nature Morte's stunning rutilance and chromatic brightness hold a fragment of the sun of the South of France.
—Art critic Jean-Albert Cartier
For all of his life, the main theme of Kisling's still lifes were flowers； he did not create many works that featured fruit. Nature Morte is therefore quite rare. The foreground, middleground, and background picture are clearly differentiated. In addition, Kisling utilized his characteristic “chromatic brightness” color palette. The Bleu de Manganese and yellowish corduroy in the right side of the background together with cardinal cloth on the left, for example, create a scene resembling a theatre stage. Blue and red form a high contrast between cool and warm tones, bringing a visual tension that demonstrates the artist's superior taste and skillfulness. In the foreground, the objects on the table, milk jug, grapes, peaches, the plate below them, and the adjacent verdant leaves are all different in terms of their levels, but together they form a harmonious whole. Just as it is with traditional, classic still life paintings, these seemingly ordinary objects are actually symbolic. This is illustrated by the fact that the pattern of the red and white tassel tablecloth on the table is not common in France, but it is of a typical, traditional Polish origin, revealing Kisling's inner thoughts: a wandering expatriate missing his motherland who wants to show support and love for Polish culture.
Blue and white porcelain fruit plates are very common in French homes. Here, it symbolizes the richness of life （this meaning originating from the 16th century Age of Discovery, when the blue-and-white porcelain from the Far East was highly valued）. A bunch of grapes on the plate represents redemption and harvest as well as Dionysus, the god of wine that brings joy to the people. According to Catholic tradition, peaches represent truth, redemption, and family. All these objects together （including the verdant leaves） symbolize the marriage between the artist and Renée Gros, their happy life and the joy in Kisling's heart. There are two big peaches and one small one on the plate, which may refer to Kisling, his wife, and their future child. The whole picture is a newlywed man's contemplation of marriage bliss and the rich, warm home prepared in expectation of the arrival of a new life, giving the work a special significance.
Kisling is known for his gorgeous color pallette. In Nature Morte, he used his iconic colors, including cadmium vermillion, laque de garance rose, and jaune de cadmium. Among them, bleu de manganese is a pigment, the production of which only started in 1910. Kinsling's passion for trying novelties, therefore, is clearly evident. It is reminiscent of Sanyu, who lived in Montparnasse for more than 40 years. When Sanyu arrived in France in 1920, Kisling was regarded as the “King of Montparnasse”. Sanyu's choices of themes, including nudes, people, flowers, and still lifes were deeply influenced by the École de Paris. Kisling might have somewhat inspired Sanyu's artistic attitude towards still lifes and flowers as well as his practice of referring to the aesthetics typical of his home country. These two artists are both known for their bold artistic ideas and enthusiasm for life, as well as their unchanging attachment to the culture of their respective motherlands.

Price estimate:
HKD: 800,000 -1,500,000
USD: 101,900 - 191,100

Auction Result:
HKD : --