Kiki z Montparnasse'u

by Catel, José-Louis Bocquet

Kiki de Montparnasse, née Alice Prin au tout début du XXe siècle, fut l’une des figures les plus marquantes de la vie artistique parisienne de l’entre-deux guerres, lors des Années Folles. Égérie et amie de très nombreux artistes – Modigliani, Duchamp, Desnos, Picasso, Cocteau, Aragon, bon nombre des surréalistes –, Kiki fut la muse et l’inspiratrice de créateurs devenus depuis des signatures majeures de l’art moderne, comme Foujita et Man Ray. C’est cette existence hors norme, retracée à travers la plupart des épisodes-clés d’un parcours de vie trépidant, que racontent avec passion Catel et José-Louis Bocquet, dans un album ambitieux qui est autant l’évocation d’une époque que le magnifique portrait d’une femme libre. Plus de trois cent planches de création exigeante et généreuse, en hommage à l’art sous toutes ses formes.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Biography, Bande Dessinée, Nonfiction, Art, History

415 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Pseudonym of Catherine Muller, who has also published as Catherine Muler, Cathy Muller, and Catel Muller.

Source: http://www.catel-m.com/Site-officiel-...

Catel Muller, diplômée des Arts décoratifs de Strasbourg, débute sa carrière en publiant des albums pour enfants aux éditions Hachette, Épigones, Nathan, Dupuis et Hatier. Une sélection au festival international du livre de jeunesse de Bologne et une cinquantaine d’ouvrages illustrés jalonnent cette partie de son œuvre. Catel illustre également L’Encyclo des filles chez Plon qui s’impose comme un best-seller auprès des adolescentes depuis dix ans.

Parallèlement, Catel Muller s’adresse pour la première fois aux adultes en 2000 avec la série Lucie qui ouvre la voie à une certaine bande dessinée féminine aux préoccupations contemporaines.

En 2005, elle obtient le prix du public au festival d'Angoulême pour l'album Le Sang des Valentines illustré et écrit en collaboration avec Christian de Metter.

En 2007, elle reçoit le prix RTL puis en 2008 le prix du Public Essentiel à Angoulême pour le roman graphique Kiki de Montparnasse mis en image d’après le scénario de José Louis Bocquet.

Depuis, Catel Muller poursuit ses évocations de destins de femmes avec des albums consacrés à l’historienne d’art Rose Valland, la chanteuse Edith Piaf et l’actrice Mireille Balin. Ce dernier album, intitulé Dolor et écrit par Philippe Paringaux, a été sélectionné Hors-compétition au festival d’Angoulême 2010.

Actuellement, Catel Muller prépare un roman graphique sur Olympe de Gouges chez Casterman avec José-Louis Bocquet. Elle travaille également sur un ouvrage inspiré d’entretiens particuliers avec Benoîte Groult à paraître chez Grasset.

1990 - Maitrise d’Arts plastiques - Faculté de Stasbourg.

1989 - Diplôme d’illustration des Arts décoratifs de Strasbourg.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘I paint flowers so they will not die,’ artist Frida Kahlo once said. A beautiful testament to the lasting power of art to immortalize against mortality’s decay, the same could be said of biographies—especially graphic novel biographies—that serve to capture the past and preserve it for the future. Alice Prin, better known as Kiki de Montparnasse, was the quintessential 1920’s “it” girl of the avant-garde art scene. A singer, actress, model, painter, and all-around icon, has long been immortalized in the photographs and paintings of her contemporaries but is yet again granted a new mortality through art in Kiki de Montparnasse, the graphic novel biography by José-Louis Bocquet and Catel Muller. A true labor of love coming in at just over 400pgs, this is an endlessly engaging and accessible look at the life of the famous artist and muse that pulls the reader into the Années folles (or “crazy years”) of 1920s France and entangles them in the goings-on of Kiki’s friends and artist entourage. Covering her rise to fame serving as a model for artists such as Tsuguharu Foujita or Jean Cocteau among others, and her romance with American photographer Man Ray for whom she also served as his muse, this is a fantastic read full of history and told in a way that makes it almost impossible to put down. Before you know it you’ll have finished this beast of a book with a head full of dadaist and surrealist history and a love for the flawed yet empathetic Kiki. A must read for art lovers.

This graphic biography is such an excellent blend of art, history, and storytelling that rolls forward through rather top-notch dialogue and art direction. It is no surprise to learn it was the recipient of many awards when it was first published in France. Despite her flaws, which the graphic due do not shirk from, they present a portrait of Kiki as pragmatic as she is bursting with indefatigable joy.

Born into poverty in 1901 and raised by her grandmother, Alice Prin would move to Paris at the age of 12 to pursue a modelling career. Over the course of her short life she would appear in several films, such as the dadaist Ballet Mécanique by Lernand Leger, and as the subject of numerous photos and paintings with Man Ray’s famous photo of her, Le Violon d'Ingres , becoming the most expensive photograph in history when it sold at auction in 2022 for $12.4million.

Photos by Man Ray (left & bottom) and painting by Tsuguharu Foujita

Not all is fun and games and Kiki’s life was filled with hardships beyond poverty and a rather volatile relationship with Man Ray and abusive men. Yet the portrayal here is such that you can’t help loving her and understanding just what everyone saw in her infectious attitude and artistic aspirations. The artwork here really pulls the story along and captures her hectic lifestyle and the drug and booze fueled high energy of the 1920s French art scene. Plus this book is simply filled with references to famous artists with people like Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and more. It’s just a great read overall.

Art fans and biographies lovers are sure to enjoy this massive but worthwhile graphic biography. This is certainly a testament of love to the great icon and only serves to further immortalize her and her image across time. Definitely check this one out!

4.5/5

[Jaidee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 "sweeping, alluring, cinematic" stars !!!

Warm thanx to Spenx whose wonderful review made me nab this graphic biography pronto. Gracias amigo~

What a wonderful way to spend a July afternoon reading and relishing this graphic biography based on the life, artistry and antics of Kiki de Montparnasse (1901-1953). She was an artist, a dancer, a singer, a muse and a lover to many artists. She was tempestuous, adventurous, hungry. She lived life by her own rules despite gender constraints and serious attachment injuries. She was desired by many and denigrated as being a whore. She loved fiercely yet capriciously. Oddly beautiful, utterly sensual and extremely fun-loving she descended into alcoholism, gluttony and cocaine.

The illustrations are black and white stylishly Parisian divine with punchy, bawdy and poignant prose that swept this reader away.... If she has been born a man or wealthy she might have had more respect and be more well known today.... Simply wonderful...thanx again Spenx ~

O how I would have loved to party with you Kiki...oh yes I would ~

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1979 I visited a Surrealism/Dada exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and I was enthralled. Still remember it! After that I visited every similar exhibit I could see in the midwest and collected books on that and related subjects. Recently I attended yet another related exhibition. Shatter Rupture Break was a spring 2015 Chicago Art Institute exhibition that "examines modern art and the rapidly shifting conditions of modernity through the provocative lens of fragmentation." Artists such as Robert Delaunay and Gino Severini, the website tells us, "disrupted traditional conventions of depth and illusionism, presenting vision as something fractured. Kurt Schwitters and George Grosz explored collage…" Also, "In the wake of new theories of the mind as well as the literal tearing apart of bodies in war, artists such as Hans Bellmer, Salvador Dalí, and Stanisław Witkiewicz produced photographs and objects revealing the fractured self or erotic dismemberment. The theme of fragmentation was ubiquitous as inspiration for both the formal and conceptual revolutions in art making in the modern age." In addition to going to this exhibit, I read this book, which I liked very much.

In Kiki de Montparnasse, Catel and Bouquet research and share tales, anecdotes, mostly, from this period from more of a French perspective, the Paris Montparnasse period of the 1920s, the time of cubism, surrealism, dada as a kind of response to the destruction and fragmentation of the war. A time of explosive creativity, and original (and sometimes truly bizarre) ideas. Alice Prin, who became known as Kiki, her stage name, is a kind of emblem of the time, a model and sometime singer and image of artistic abandon and sexual freedom, the lover (and photographic subject) of Man Ray, and friend and/or model for Soutine, Modigliani, Picasso, Tristen Tzara, Robert Desnos, Andre Breton, DuChamp, Cocteau, Hemingway. . . The Paris of the twenties!

The book tells the time, the history of the period, from the perspective of Kiki, who we come to care about, from the time of her growing up in poverty in rural France to her unlikely rise to fame as one cultural icon of the time. The writing and art are terrific; the dialogue feels real and helps in a relatively quick way (though this IS 416 pages, a tome!) to paint/evoke certain moments and artists and ideas really well.

In one sense, it's a familiar story: from rags to riches to rags. It's a biography: you're born, you live, you die. How to make that unique? In this tale, the pretty typical straightforward chronological journey from cradle to grave approach disappointed me; if it is Kiki and Man Ray, funk up the telling a little, at least!! But finally, I still like it a lot; it is her interactions with the times, the place, her lovers, the artists, that make the tale come alive, and the times become the paint the authors use to create her, just as so many artists did then.

There's a chronology of her life attached, and one page biographies of the principal characters, and there's a bibliography, too. This project is much honored, a labor of love, with obviously extensive research. I could be a little more critical of all that it does not do, but I really liked it very much for what it does.

[Seth T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife, after reading Kiki de Montparnasse for something near a half hour, stopped and asked me: "Is this for real? Did men really just go up to women and offer them a few bucks to flash their boobs?" I assured her that it was and that it's the same today and it's not a big thing and everybody does it. I was not very convincing. Probably because I was as surprised as her. I knew the early twentieth century in Europe1 was a rambunctious time—what with the swift ideological, artistic, and moral paradigm hops that were occurring quickly enough to pile up on each other's shoulders. But I wouldn't have suspected the streets of Paris would basically be a live-action Girls Gone Wild.

Deep down I guess I still unknowingly held onto the mythology that our forebears were a quaint and unimaginative bunch.2 For that reason (probably among others), biography proves its usefulness once more. We are again reminded that the world is bigger than we thought and expression of the human spirit is wide and diverse. Kiki de Montparnasse is good at arguing this reminder because Kiki de Montparnasse, in all likelihood, is not very much like us at all.



[See. I told you this happened in real life. Proof!
Note: I censored the last panel for all the delicate children out there
reading a review of a book about a nude model.]

In Catel and Bocquet's biography of Alice Prin, better known as Kiki,3 the reader is rushed through fifty-two tumultuous, extravagant years of a woman's life. Kiki is one of those figures whose existence is simultaneously extraordinary and clichéd. Extraordinary because she lives in that larger-than-life manner that can't possibly seem to sustain itself. Clichéd because it doesn't. Like so many of those who burn brightly enough to catch the eye of the everyman, Kiki flares out, smouldering and spent.



[Nobody respects the arts anymore.]

Kiki's life incorporates what amounts to a who's who of the early-century French arts movements. Picasso, Cocteau, Man Ray, and piles of painters, writers, dadaists, and more. Kiki, for all her faults and failures, was famous for a time in her small but powerful corner of the world. She modeled for many of the best of her generation and inspired others through her own creative endeavors—through singing, painting, writing, and sex. Kiki's output among these lights was voracious, swallowing up as much as it produced. She tortured the hearts of men even as she led them to new artistic discoveries. She was, to use an American turn of phrase that would post-date her by a couple decades, something else.



[The comic depiction of the shooting of the art that graces the book's cover with Man Ray's actual photo for comparison.]

The publisher's description that graces the book's cover is bizarre. After describing Kiki in terse encyclopedic summary (model in Montparnasse in the '20s, partner to Man Ray, painted by Kisling, Foujita, et al), it embellishes grandly: "she is the first emancipated woman of the 20th century" and ironically goes on to cite her sexual, emotional, and whole-persona liberties. The irony, of course, is that Catel and Brocquet demonstrate so much the opposite of this over the course of their treatment of her life that one wonders if the publishers were being merely playful or if they truly misunderstood the work before them.

The trailhead of Kiki's life is the abject poverty into which she's born. Nearly an orphan and raised by a grandmother, she comes to live with her mother in her young teens. Necessity and expediency lead her to sell her body for display, as a model to sculptors and painters at times and as a cheap thrill for randy men at others. As told in Kiki there is nothing noble in her modeling at first, no transcendent love of the arts. She only wants to get paid and initially embarks on a life of nude modeling at the command of her basest needs: for hunger, for shelter—and eventually, to support growing coke and alcohol habits.



[Dude. If you don't respect the coke, the coke won't respect you.]

At no time does Catel and Brocquet's Kiki ever approach anything resembling emancipation—save perhaps in her death in the final pages of the book. She is bound by her poverty, enslaved to her addictions, held captive by her reputation, fettered in her fear of losing that reputation, imprisoned by her desires, and subjugated by her emotional needs. Kiki de Montparnasse, if read as written, presents almost a cautionary tale, a non-fictional catalogue of how not to live if you wish to lead a happy life. Kiki's abundant lack of abiding joy may be the surest evidence that she did not, in fact, live the kind of emancipation this book's publishers seem to daydream into the work.

In its most realistic sense, Kiki plays as tragedy. The reader keeps hoping things will finally work out for the woman, but while there are certainly some high points, everything winds down through a series of soft crescendos. By tale's end (and it's no secret that Alice Prin dies in 1953), I liked Kiki enough that I mourned her along with the small few who gathered at her funeral. Catel and Bocquet do an admirable job breathing life into a dead-and-gone celebrity, fleshing out her flesh and selling her as a model of the more exuberant kind of twentieth-century woman—a woman as much bound by her circumstances and personality as any of us. A slave, a whore, a human. A spark, a light, a life.



Footnotes
1)And in America too, as it so happens.

2) Clearly though, they were more imaginative than me. I would have never thought of walking up to a stranger and offering a pittance for a brief show of public nudity. Strange world.

3) At least better-known in some circles—perhaps in France or in the art world or by biographers of Man Ray. I had never actually heard of the woman. Which actually fits the story told fairly well.
________________________

[Review courtest of Good Ok Bad.]

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Prin was born in 1901 into poverty in rural France. Raised by a loving grandmother along with several other bastards, her mother was in Paris chasing artists and the high life while her biological father was nowhere to be found, and when Alice turned 12 she was sent to Paris. Her high energy and natural beauty became too much for her carefree mother and after being caught modelling nude for a local painter, Alice was turned away by her mother and forced to make a living on the streets.

It’s from there that she learns about the bohemian lifestyle of Paris, post WW1, emerging into the party lifestyle of the 1920s. She meets artists, painters, photographers, writers, and becomes a notable figure herself, changing her name to Kiki, Queen of Montparnasse, the area of Paris she lived in most of her life.

The book follows Kiki’s life from the glamour days of her twenties with her whirlwind romances, to her role as muse to numerous avant-garde artists of the time, in particular the love of her life, Man Ray. It also takes into account her later years when the drink and drugs took over her life and eventually killed her.

For a figure who painted, sang, wrote a memoir, and acted in many films, Kiki was unknown to me until I read this so it’s strange that she didn’t create anything that’s lasted. Her legacy seems to be as an inspiration for other, greater artists to create their work on; artists like Foujita, Kisling, Calder, and of course Man Ray (who took the famous picture of Kiki the cover art is based upon).

That said, she lived a life! She had many loves, she did many things, she saw a lot and did a lot, and eventually it was living the life she lived at 21 that killed her at 52. The book showcases a free woman in a world where women were anything but, and a woman who loved life to death.

The drawing style is vibrant and captures emotion in the faces of the characters beautifully. It’s also an unmistakably French style of art – if you’ve read other French comic books like Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian’s “Monsieur Jean” books or David B’s work, you’ll see similarity in the method. Like those other artists, Catel and Jose Luis-Boucquet have created a wonderful book about a kind-hearted, warm soul.

Alice Prin may not be the most famous person to write a book about but the book Catel and Jose Luis-Boucquet have written about her has done justice to her life and kept her memory glowing for a new generation to discover her. “Kiki de Montparnasse” is an excellent read and a great comic book that’ll keep you enthralled throughout.

[Dov Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where to even begin?

This book was hefty, and Kiki's life is contextualized in helpful and beautiful ways. And, I would have read a book twice as long.

Kiki is the affectionate name given to Alice Prin when she first starts modeling for artists just after WWI. Kiki was born into relative poverty in the French country-side, and raised, along with several cousins, by her mythically lovely maternal grandmother. She was removed around the age of twelve from her country home, a home and a landscape she loved, and brought by her neglectful mother to Paris, where she struggled with the confines of the life that had been planned for her, and found herself working long hours in her early teens. She struggled to survive, and soon enough thrived. She was exploited and harmed along the way, and she never was able to live without the threat of harm, for being female, and for pushing the boundaries of behavior acceptable for female-bodied people at the time. But through profound chemistry and magnetism as a model for artists, and as a person whose joy about living drew people to her, she became first a model and muse, then a painter herself, an important social figure, a singer, and with the encouragement of lovers and friends, she wrote memoirs, now on my reading list.

There are some great short videos on youtube with images of Kiki: photographs, film clips, paintings. I won't post them here because there is nudity and I don't know if that is okay on the gr. But check some out. They are stunning and fascinating. So of their time, but with an emotional timelessness.

I am more and more interested in this time between the two world wars when Paris became a place for exiled artists and writers, many of them living in poverty, though not all of them. Soutine, for example, goes from rags to riches, as does Kiki. I wonder how long their friendship lasted. (Soutine died during WWII at least partially because he couldn't get medical help for a dangerous ulcer. I'm sure the stress of trying to hide from the Nazis didn't help. Kiki survived the war but died not too long after.)

In any case, this is a great introduction to Kiki's life, her art, her life as art. Her relationships with Man Ray, Foujita, Soutine, Cocteau... She was a social institution and an organizing force and it is possible Paris of the 20s would not have been what it was without her.

This review is not terribly focused. Apologies for that. For a much more thoughtful and coherent review, check out David's! Link below.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Cocoontale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une biographie sous forme de roman graphique, quelle bonne idée ! J'ai adoré découvrir cette muse des années 20 dont je ne connaissais pas toute l'histoire. Les illustrations sont en noir et blanc mais j'ai trouvé qu'elles restituaient très bien l'ambiance de ces années folles.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une magnifique reconstitution de la vie de Kiki de Montparnasse, en successions de fragments, classés selon les maisons qu'elle a habitées au cours de sa vie. C'est à la fois rafraîchissant et bouillonnant, joyeux et touchant. Un document épatant, où on retrouve encore tellement de thématiques contemporaines : conception de l'art, de la féminité, entre autres. J'ai parfois du mal à comprendre comment on peut aborder tant de problématiques dans quelques croquis et des petites bulles, mais pourtant ça marche, et ce qui n'était qu'une simple biographie dessinée devient un véritable page-turner.

C'est la deuxième fois que je lis Kiki, avec une différence de taille entre chaque lecture : la première fois, je connaissais très peu de choses sur le Montparnasse de l'entre-deux guerres ; et depuis, je l'ai étudié. Si, lors d'une première lecture, j'ai pu effectivement être découragée par le name-dropping, ce n'est plus du tout le cas lors d'une seconde lecture, et le travail de documentation est bien plus perceptible.
J'ai juste quelques doutes quant à la retranscription de certains faits - pas grand chose, mais par exemple, je pensais que lorsque Man Ray et Kiki s'étaient rencontrés, il était en compagnie d'une femme ; et j'avais cru comprendre (en fait, même, j'en suis certaine, car il y a des photos de ce moment) que Kiki n'avait pas été seule à New York, mais bien en compagnie de Man Ray, pour y rendre visite à sa famille.

Ce n'est qu'une petite ombre au tableau, et après tout, on ne demande pas à Kiki d'être une biographie ; alors n'hésitez pas à aller vous paumer dans les froufrous de la reine de Montparnasse !

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

La biografia a fumetti di un donna che ho conosciuto per caso in un altro libro (“storie della buonanotte per bambine ribelli”).
Bella la grafica, bella la divisione in capitoli.
Bello il personaggio raccontato dal inizio ala fine.
Bello trovare tanti artisti (Man Ray, Picasso, Modigliani..) nella sua vita e scoprire momenti che non conoscevo.
Molto apprezzata la biografia finale di tutti i partecipanti al fumetto.

[Léa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une BD pleine de joie, de fête et d'amour pour raconter la vie de Kiki, reine de Montparnasse.

Catel et Bocquet font un formidable travail en retraçant les grandes étapes de la vie fambloyante de la belle Kiki. J'ai adoré retrouver les années folles et toutes les personnalités du Paris de l'époque.

[Metin Yılmaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aslında sadece bir çizgi roman gözüyle bakmak yanlış. Çünkü bu çizgi roman, bizim ülkemizde anlaşılan çizgi roman anlayışından daha başka bir çizgi roman. Hayat hikayesi anlatılan Kiki'nin yanı sıra iki büyük dünya savaşı sırasında Fransa'ya bakıyoruz. O dönemde insanların yaşamlarına konuk oluyoruz. Ayrıca büyük yazarlar, büyük ressamlarla ve büyük fotoğrafçılarla karşılaşıyoruz. Her ne kadar o zamanlar daha büyük oldukları netleşmemiş olsa da.
Dediğim gibi sadece bir çizgi roman demek çok zor. Biyografik bir çizgi roman, tarihi bir çizgi roman, savaş zamanı insan sosyolojisi ve psikolojisi ile ilgili bir çizgi roman desek daha doğru olabilir. Okudukça bitmesin dediğim, çok severek okuduğum enfes çizgi romanlar arasında yerini alan bir çizgi roman oldu Montparnasse'li Kiki. Sizlere de bu enfes çizgi romanı tavsiye ederim.

[Laurelas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quelle vie que celle de Kiki, alias Alice Prin ! Je trouve toujours incroyable comment les personnages de cette époque se rencontrent avec une facilité déconcertante, au détour d'un café - ça donne l'impression d'un Paris tout petit (et très cosmopolite). L'esprit de l'époque est joliment retransmis dans cette BD et comme toujours Catel & Boquet ont vraiment du talent pour raconter des vies en bulles.

Finalement je ne connaissais pas vraiment Kiki de Montparnasse avant d'avoir dévoré cet ouvrage, et ça m'a donné envie d'en savoir (encore) plus sur ces années là.

Un destin si rapidement consumé, une liberté peu commune pour une femme à l'époque et beaucoup d'impertinence, voilà ce que je retiens (entre autres) de Kiki. Et je vous conseille à vous aussi de vous plonger dans son histoire dessinée !

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic biography introduced me to Kiki who "escaped poverty to become one of the most charismatic figures of the avant-garde years between the wars. Partner to Man Ray, she would be immortalized by many artists. The muse of a generation, she was one of the first emancipated women of the 20th century".

While I did not love the art in this book, I was fascinated by this woman, and her life. Since this book attempts to cover her entire life, it has to jump around a lot, and introduce us to loads of people, and that is its biggest weakness. I wanted more about Kiki - her inner life, her demons - and while these are alluded to, the author does not dive deeper. Still, am delighted to have learned a bit about the woman, and I plan on reading a biography to flesh out the details.

[Suvi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kiki was a gorgeous woman, and considering the artists she was consorting with, I was expecting a more experimental style. Sure, this is a biography, and I did like some of the more detailed backgrounds, but maybe a bit more unusual approach art-wise would have made Kiki's world a bit more multifaceted. The relationship between artists and their muses could also have been explored a bit more. The whole thing just fell flat for me, even though it wasn't bad per se.

[Lucie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Kiki ♥

[George Ilsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Prin, as "Kiki" was known as a child, was a force of nature, an artist, a muse, a bon vivant, a chanteuse.

With a cast of thousands, all of whom are well-known (Picasso, Modigliani, Hemingway, Cocteau, and the American who was perhaps her main partner, Man Ray) this book, mostly set in the artistic hothouse of Montarnasse, is history, biography, and memoir — all in one.

Somewhat confusing, but there is a cast list at the back (which I did not discover until I reached that point, and managed to figure everything out).

5 stars because this one poor child from the French countryside has such an impact to so many, and brought joy to so many more.

[Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this graphic novel based on the life of Alice Prin, better known as Kiki of Montparnasse. She rose to fame as a model for a variety of artists, most famously perhaps Man Ray who took the photo of Kiki known as Ingre's Violin, as represented on the cover. She was a cabaret performer, muse, and artist in her own right and was well known for being at the heart of many-a-party and the breaker of many hearts.

The story can be read without any knowledge of the community of creative expatriates that gathered in Montparnasse (in Paris) in the 20s and 30s; there are biographies of Kiki's closest friends and lovers at the end.

This is an adult graphic novel; while not pornographic, Kiki spends a lot of time nude, whether modeling or in bed with one lover or another, and there are also sequences of violence and drug use. However, it is an unflinching look at a woman who had a rough start but lived a very full life with very few regrets.

[Garconniere · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Kiki de Montparnasse, and graphic novels, so I was so excited when I heard about this book. Unfortunately, as well researched as it is, it fell short. I felt like that was so much potential to explore styles with the drawings but that was probably the weakest point.

Also this is probably my own perspective tainting the situation but there's a lot to get into around gender relations in the surrealist and dadaist movements. Instead, in the book it is made to be just relationship drama between Man Ray and Kiki, as petty rather than serious. A lot of the male artists who are constantly lauded for their genius continues to overshadow and discredit female artists as simply "muses" for the male gaze. I would have loved to see this element explored.

Oh well.

[Angela Natividad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending of this graphic novel includes that old legend about the benevolent stranger who walks by the blind beggar whose cup is empty. She picks up his sign, transforms it, and, as she walks off, the clinking of coin upon coin won't stop.

It was the first time I'd seen this story; since then, I've seen it in a thousand contexts (the worst is when they're used to illustrate the power of some iconic ad man). But Kiki was my first. I'd always much rather it be her.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interetsing to read and understand more about Alice Prin, better known as Kiki of Montparnasse. The character building in this graphic novel is fantastic and it made the book very enjoyable to read. There are some happy and some sad moments and it's a bit shocking when you read about how women artists were treated in that historical period - a lot of things has changed since then but we have more work to do in this direction as a society.

[Dustyloup · Rating 4 out of 5]

la couverture m'a appellé depuis longtemps. J'ai résisté mais l'autre jour goodreads m'a conseillé ce livre donc voilà je le trouve à la bibliothèque et fini 2/3 avant de partir! j'y connaissais rien à propos de kiki avant de lire ce livre et ça m'a emporté dans son monde tourbillonnant. ça m'a plue - 4.5 etoiles

[Monika Yulianti · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first graphic novel! I finished this book within 12 hours, and I love it! The colourful life of Kiki de Montparnasse, a model, painter, artist, singer, actress, dancer, an entertainer onstage as well as offstage. She was a free spirit in the truest form. I also enjoyed the beautiful drawings and the details regarding France circa 1901-1953.

[Laëtitia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quelle vie ! J'ai adoré me plonger dans le Paris de l'entre deux guerres, le Paris bohème dans lequel Alice Prin alias Kiki, reine de Montparnasse a su se faire une place, un nom. Cette figure féminine à la fois inspirante et triste ; le culot et la détermination d'une femme à vivre sa vie comme elle l'entend. Les dessins de Catel sont toujours aussi beaux et immersifs.

[Niina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh, olipas Kikin elämä rankka. Hän päätyy maalaistyttösestä maailmaluokan tähdeksi, mutta enimmäkseen kanvaasilla ja valokuvissa, vaikka maalasi itsekin ja esiintyi laulajana. Todella rankka taiteilijäelämä kuului kuvioon, kokaiinia, heroiinia, oopiumua, alkoholia ja paljon seksiä. Kiki kuoli 52-vuotiaana. Kiinnostava elämäkerrallinen sarjis naisesta, josta en ennen ollut kuullut.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une biographie en BD super intéressante sur une des figures emblématiques du Paris du début 20e

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

First this is a "Graphic Biography," meaning comic book-style. Do you like Graphic Novels?
Do you enjoy stories like "La vie en rose" -- the biopic of Edith Piaf (1915-1963)? This is a similar story. "A lower-class outcast forced to fend for herself," now viewed as an "independent woman who was ahead of her time." Kiki de Montparnasse (Alice Ernestine Prin, 1901-1953) led a similar life but a decade earlier - in the 1920's. Kiki's associates were the avant-garde artists of Montparnasse (Parisian left-bank) while Piaf performed mostly on the right-bank, especially in the Quartier Pigalle.
If you took an art history class (especially photography), you have probably seen Kiki's image. She was a model for many well-known Paris artists, modeling for and appearing in many iconic works : Man Ray's photo "Le Violon de Ingres" 1924) and films "La Retour a la Raison" (1923), "L'Etiole de Mer" (1928), and "Emak Bakia" (1926); Gargallo's "Kiki de Montparnasse" (1928); and Leger's (et al.?) "Ballet mecanique." She was also a painter, writer and singer.
She was a very "liberated" woman, sexually and otherwise: she and Man Ray were a couple for many years, although she had many other relationships including with women.
Unlike Piaf who stayed in Paris during the Nazi occupation, Kiki had to flee to the south of France because of her association with "decadent" artists and clubs. One other differenece: Piaf was an alcoholic and addicted to heroin. Kiki was an alcoholic and addicted to cocaine.
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I found this biography by José-Luis Bocquet and Catel Muller to be exceptionally good in comic book style. The black and white drawings capture her moods and actions really well. The inclusion of biographies of the main characters and a chronology in the appendices was a great addition. It was a fun read. I recommend it.
Two comments: I think the authors believe that the reader knows the outline of the story even before they read the book. For those of us who do not know the main sequence of events but want to read the story in historical order: whenever you feel you are getting lost in the sequence of things and "who is who" look in the appendices. I turned to the chronology in the back at the beginning of each chapter and read up to the date given and, whenever I was not sure about which character it was, I looked at the drawings of the actors pictured with their bios.
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[Sources: Her book, Kiki's Memoirs - with an Introduction by her friend Ernest Hemingway, was finally published in English in 1996. It had been banned in the US since the 1930s. Most of the films in which she appeared are on YouTube and a CD of her recordings is available on iTunes.]

[Aishe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I was really drawn in and became immersed in Kiki's life. I normally wouldn't care for an autobiography, and I did not know all that much about her before I picked up this book on a whim, but her life was a amazing. She truly embodied the times and places and spirit of the age. While I don't feel drawn to the art world or the fast life, I feel that reading her story and the biographies of all the major players in her circle and her life really revealed something about history that I missed in AP European and AP American history. Maybe I should have taken an art history class? The names of the artists were of course all familiar, but to hear how they interacted, influenced one another, their friendships and rivalries, through the beautifully crafted lens of the life of Kiki was really amazing. If I taught a class on this time period, I think I might ask my students to read it. Amazing. Beautiful. Excellent execution. Kiki was a force, whether you approve of her or not. She could take it or leave it, but she lived life mostly on her own terms, she did things that pleased her. She chased her dreams. She loved hard. Those qualities in and of themselves are admirable. But she seems like she was also just a dynamo.

[Tate Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second 'longish' graphic novel i have read and I'm not sure i'm into them. However I give credit that at least KIKI is a charismatic character worth writing about I just wish it was done in a more a succinct way and with specialised artwork (maybe in colour) that conveyed her beauty and lively character while spending more time on her inner thoughts and why she acted the way she did rather that introducing us to every famous french artist she met. I wanted to know more about her than everyone around her. Despite this I did enjoy most of it but feel there is a great, shorter beautiful graphic novel that could be made to better capture KIKI.

[Salomé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ouvrage très complet sur la vie de cette muse et artiste des années folles, dans un Paris décidément tout petit où se croise, se percute, s'enlace le destin de ses (futures) célèbres compagnons de route: Man Ray, Breton, Fujita, Modigliani... Les dessins en noir et blanc de Catel Muller sont énergiques et pleins de détails. J'ai aimé par exemple le fait que chaque chapitre est marqué par une nouvelle coupe de cheveux de Kiki, reflet historique des modes de l'époque. Une fois la BD terminée (ce qui prend du temps, on en a pour son argent), une chronologie et une série de biographies des artistes mentionnés viennent compléter l'oeuvre.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This huge biographic-comic takes us through a series of vignettes illustrating the life and times of Kiki, model, muse and party girl who in turn takes us on a tour of the roaring bohemian scene of Paris at the birth of Surrealism and Dadaism with her colorful cast of friends who just happen to be the great artists of that time!
This book had a breezy, frivolous feel to me at first, but the more I read, the more interested I became in this astounding and colorful character and that thriving art scene in which she played an important role.