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Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love, and Rivalry in 1920s Paris
A dazzling portrait of Paris’s forgotten artist and cabaret star, whose incandescent life asks us to see the history of modern art in new ways. In freewheeling 1920s Paris, Kiki de Montparnasse captivated as a nightclub performer, sold out gallery showings of her paintings, starred in Surrealist films, and shared drinks and ideas with the likes of Jean Cocteau and Marcel Duchamp. Her best-selling memoir―featuring an introduction by Ernest Hemingway―made front-page news in France and was immediately banned in America. All before she turned thirty.
Kiki was once the symbol of bohemian Paris. But if she is remembered today, it is only for posing for several now-celebrated male artists, including Amedeo Modigliani and Alexander Calder, and especially photographer Man Ray.
Why has Man Ray’s legacy endured while Kiki has become a footnote? Kiki and Man Ray met in 1921 during a chance encounter at a café. What followed was an explosive decade-long connection, both professional and romantic, during which the couple grew and experimented as artists, competed for fame, and created many of the shocking images that cemented Man Ray’s reputation as one of the great artists of the modern era. The works they made together, including the Surrealist icons Le Violon d’Ingres and Noire et blanche, now set records at auction.
Charting their volatile relationship, award-winning historian Mark Braude illuminates for the first time Kiki’s seminal influence not only on Man Ray’s art, but on the culture of 1920s Paris and beyond. As provocative and magnetically irresistible as Kiki herself, Kiki Man Ray is the story of an exceptional life that will challenge ideas about artists and muses―and the lines separating the two. 8 page insert
Kiki was once the symbol of bohemian Paris. But if she is remembered today, it is only for posing for several now-celebrated male artists, including Amedeo Modigliani and Alexander Calder, and especially photographer Man Ray.
Why has Man Ray’s legacy endured while Kiki has become a footnote? Kiki and Man Ray met in 1921 during a chance encounter at a café. What followed was an explosive decade-long connection, both professional and romantic, during which the couple grew and experimented as artists, competed for fame, and created many of the shocking images that cemented Man Ray’s reputation as one of the great artists of the modern era. The works they made together, including the Surrealist icons Le Violon d’Ingres and Noire et blanche, now set records at auction.
Charting their volatile relationship, award-winning historian Mark Braude illuminates for the first time Kiki’s seminal influence not only on Man Ray’s art, but on the culture of 1920s Paris and beyond. As provocative and magnetically irresistible as Kiki herself, Kiki Man Ray is the story of an exceptional life that will challenge ideas about artists and muses―and the lines separating the two. 8 page insert
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2022
114 people are currently reading
3799 people want to read
About the author
Mark Braude
5 books46 followersMARK BRAUDE is a cultural historian and the author of KIKI MAN RAY: ART, LOVE, AND RIVALRY IN 1920S PARIS (W.W. Norton, Summer 2022), THE INVISIBLE EMPEROR: NAPOLEON ON ELBA FROM EXILE TO ESCAPE (Penguin Press, 2018), and MAKING MONTE CARLO: A HISTORY OF SPECULATION AND SPECTACLE (Simon & Schuster, 2016). His books have been translated into several languages.
Mark was a 2020 visiting fellow at the American Library in Paris and was named a 2017 NEH Public Scholar. He is the recipient of grants from the Robert B. Silvers Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, the de Groot Foundation, and others. He has been a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA) and a lecturer in Stanford’s departments of Art History, French, and History.
Mark was born in Vancouver and went to college at the University of British Columbia. He received an MA from NYU’s Institute of French Studies and a PhD in History and Visual Studies from USC. He has written for The Globe and Mail, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, and others. He lives in Vancouver with his wife and their two daughters.
Mark was a 2020 visiting fellow at the American Library in Paris and was named a 2017 NEH Public Scholar. He is the recipient of grants from the Robert B. Silvers Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, the de Groot Foundation, and others. He has been a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA) and a lecturer in Stanford’s departments of Art History, French, and History.
Mark was born in Vancouver and went to college at the University of British Columbia. He received an MA from NYU’s Institute of French Studies and a PhD in History and Visual Studies from USC. He has written for The Globe and Mail, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, and others. He lives in Vancouver with his wife and their two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
August 15, 2022
An exploration of the intertwining lives of photographer Man Ray (aka Emmanuel Radnitsky) and the model, muse, and eventual artist, memoirist and performer, known as Kiki of Montparnasse (aka Alice Prin). Kiki and Man Ray’s intimate relationship resulted in a series of ground-breaking, now-famous images. Mark Braude opens with an account of Kiki’s origins, born in 1901, Kiki came from a dirt-poor background, working from the age of 12 to support her mother. Braude’s Kiki is irrepressible, kicked out on the streets by her mother she quickly became skilled at surviving on very little, sometimes sleeping rough or on friends’ sofas, flashing her breasts for a few coins if she desperately needed cash. By chance she ended up posing for a painter, and found that life as a model suited far better than the hard-graft conventional jobs she’d scraped into in the past. Kiki became an iconic figure in the growing artistic community of Montparnasse on Paris’s Left Bank. Painters, sculptors, writers flocked to the area drawn by the cheap rents and plentiful accommodation.
During Montparnasse’s Années folles or Paris’s equivalent of the roaring twenties, Kiki finally began to flourish. Her circle of artist clients grew, and she formed friendships with the local Dadaists and Surrealists, although she couldn’t tell them apart, until she was a fixture in Montparnasse’s thriving café culture. In 1921 she met Man Ray who’d arrived in France from America. Braude provides an overview of Man Ray’s early life and career in America building up to his encounter with Kiki. Man Ray came from Brooklyn via Pennsylvania, his parents were Russian Jews, and his arrival in 1890 marked the beginning of their family. He became fascinated with the Dadaists and avant-garde art, partly through his marriage to Belgian poet Donna Lacour who also introduced him to the work of de Sade and Lautréamont – later twin obsessions. French literature and a chance meeting with Marcel Duchamp eventually led him to Paris, although he left Lacour behind. Not long after they met, Kiki and Man Ray moved in together and started their eight-year collaboration.
Braude’s dual biography’s accessible, sometimes gossipy but includes a decent overview of Kiki and Man Ray’s cultural and historical contexts – the aftermath of war, experiments with spiritualism - as well as the kinds of artwork and movements that influenced them – he also offers glimpses of writers and artists from Djuna Barnes to Jean Cocteau, Picasso, James Joyce and Gertrude Stein. His work’s clearly well-researched, almost exhaustively, and I found this made it feel a little overly detailed, dense and leisurely at times, a bit whirlwind at others. I was also a little disappointed by the later sections, after Kiki and Man Ray’s time together ended, they seemed particularly rushed and list-like, less lively and engaging than the earlier chronicle of Paris in the 1920s. But Braide’s obvious interest in Kiki, his spirited defence of her cultural significance, and championing of her central role in Montparnasse’s artistic heyday, was also very persuasive and hard not to like.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Two Roads for an ARC
During Montparnasse’s Années folles or Paris’s equivalent of the roaring twenties, Kiki finally began to flourish. Her circle of artist clients grew, and she formed friendships with the local Dadaists and Surrealists, although she couldn’t tell them apart, until she was a fixture in Montparnasse’s thriving café culture. In 1921 she met Man Ray who’d arrived in France from America. Braude provides an overview of Man Ray’s early life and career in America building up to his encounter with Kiki. Man Ray came from Brooklyn via Pennsylvania, his parents were Russian Jews, and his arrival in 1890 marked the beginning of their family. He became fascinated with the Dadaists and avant-garde art, partly through his marriage to Belgian poet Donna Lacour who also introduced him to the work of de Sade and Lautréamont – later twin obsessions. French literature and a chance meeting with Marcel Duchamp eventually led him to Paris, although he left Lacour behind. Not long after they met, Kiki and Man Ray moved in together and started their eight-year collaboration.
Braude’s dual biography’s accessible, sometimes gossipy but includes a decent overview of Kiki and Man Ray’s cultural and historical contexts – the aftermath of war, experiments with spiritualism - as well as the kinds of artwork and movements that influenced them – he also offers glimpses of writers and artists from Djuna Barnes to Jean Cocteau, Picasso, James Joyce and Gertrude Stein. His work’s clearly well-researched, almost exhaustively, and I found this made it feel a little overly detailed, dense and leisurely at times, a bit whirlwind at others. I was also a little disappointed by the later sections, after Kiki and Man Ray’s time together ended, they seemed particularly rushed and list-like, less lively and engaging than the earlier chronicle of Paris in the 1920s. But Braide’s obvious interest in Kiki, his spirited defence of her cultural significance, and championing of her central role in Montparnasse’s artistic heyday, was also very persuasive and hard not to like.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Two Roads for an ARC
July 31, 2022
Many thanks to W.W. Norton Company for the review copy.
Kiki Man Ray is a spirited attempt to give light to a historical figure who constantly appears in the margins of other people's stories. So many monolithic cultural figures rub shoulders in the early twentieth century in Paris: Hemingway, Joyce, Picasso, Breton, Chanel, Stein, the list goes on and on. And in each of their memoirs or biographies you might catch a glimpse of a lively artist, model, singer, and actress: Kiki de Montparnasse.
This book sheds more light on Kiki's life, marshaling Kiki's memoir, newspaper clippings, and other people's writings to piece together her story. One of its central goals seems to be to get us to take Kiki more seriously as an artist and creator, rather than just a model or muse. This gets trite very quickly. Cliched sentences abound as Braude grasps for any influence that Kiki may have had on the content of the paintings that depict her, beyond modeling for them. This is not at all to say that I don't think models have any influence on meaning, and obviously, even if they did not their contribution is still enormously significant. Still, if we don't have the sources to back it up then reading endless sentences about what she "must have" or "might have" or "likely" did is boring.
Braude also seems to have ambitions to make us take Kiki seriously as a painter, but he doesn't subject her paintings to the kind of critique or analysis that would support this claim. Whenever Braude recounts dismissive reviews of Kiki's work by other modernists, I couldn't help but think that they weren't any less dismissive than his surface-level descriptions of her work.
Kiki's story is interesting and this is a lively portrait of 1920s Paris but the overall vibe of this book is primarily sentimental.
Kiki Man Ray is a spirited attempt to give light to a historical figure who constantly appears in the margins of other people's stories. So many monolithic cultural figures rub shoulders in the early twentieth century in Paris: Hemingway, Joyce, Picasso, Breton, Chanel, Stein, the list goes on and on. And in each of their memoirs or biographies you might catch a glimpse of a lively artist, model, singer, and actress: Kiki de Montparnasse.
This book sheds more light on Kiki's life, marshaling Kiki's memoir, newspaper clippings, and other people's writings to piece together her story. One of its central goals seems to be to get us to take Kiki more seriously as an artist and creator, rather than just a model or muse. This gets trite very quickly. Cliched sentences abound as Braude grasps for any influence that Kiki may have had on the content of the paintings that depict her, beyond modeling for them. This is not at all to say that I don't think models have any influence on meaning, and obviously, even if they did not their contribution is still enormously significant. Still, if we don't have the sources to back it up then reading endless sentences about what she "must have" or "might have" or "likely" did is boring.
Braude also seems to have ambitions to make us take Kiki seriously as a painter, but he doesn't subject her paintings to the kind of critique or analysis that would support this claim. Whenever Braude recounts dismissive reviews of Kiki's work by other modernists, I couldn't help but think that they weren't any less dismissive than his surface-level descriptions of her work.
Kiki's story is interesting and this is a lively portrait of 1920s Paris but the overall vibe of this book is primarily sentimental.
January 10, 2023
I wish there was a half-star option for ratings. I feel 4 stars is too low and I can't quite bring myself to giving it 5 starts. Hmpf.
Excellent book. just excellent and sorely needed on my bookshelf of early 20th century art, art history and culture. My main complaint and cause of the loss of a star? Insufficient visual matter. Yes, there is a section of color plates. No, there aren't enough of them. The author Mark Braude spends a lot of time describing people, places and works of art but does not provide the illustrational support that the text cries out for.
For instance, what about a map of Montparnasse (and Paris as a whole) in the 1920s? There are plenty of them out there and the particular focus on apartment addresses and cafe locations needs a map. In fact, a map of France marked with a few of the locations referred to often, including Kiki/Alice Prin's beloved Chatillon-sur-Seine, where she lived with her grandmother. Such illustrations do not require color plates, just black-and-white figures in the text.
What about a few street views of Montparnasse in the 1920s, especially views including cafes like the Cafes du Dome and de la Rotonde? Same thing. These can be illustrations tucked in as figures.
Where are a few more portraits of Kiki by such luminaries as Amedeo Modigliani and Per Krogh? Yes, Maurice Mendjizky plays an important role in the story, but three color plates for so minor a painter? Especially when Braude only offers discussion of one of them?
Finally, what about Man Ray. Other than Kiki herself, he is the single most important figure in the book. His art, including his Rayographs, fashion shots and portraits are discussed endlessly. One or two portraits of some of the ancillary individuals who are part of the narrative would, as they say, kill two birds with one stone. His fashion work is singularly important, and was during the years of his relationship with Kiki. The Rayographs--and especially the ones used in "Vanity Fair" magazine. Again, black-and-white images don't have to be printed on coated stock and included with the color plates. Even the lesser quality of figures is adequate, and certainly enough to support the text.
Okay. The fact is that the bean-counters at all these publishers--and shame on you here, W.W. Norton & Company!--don't want to underwrite copyeditors, proofreaders or worthy illustration and design. I mean, why spend money on books they expect to go through one hardbound printing and maybe a paperback trade edition, but then disappear forever? The fact that this book is an invaluable addition for both feminist and art historical libraries is apparently irrelevant to them. When I was teaching modernism/20th century art, I always taught this material, and I would have made some of this book required homework.
But on to the story. "Kiki of Montparnasse" was always a throwaway name when I learned art history in the 1970s. She was a model and in no way particularly relevant to the presentation of the art. In this way she was not unlike Edouard Manet's favorite model, Victorine Meurend, or Jo Heffernan who graced the paintings of both James McNeil Whistler and Gustave Courbet. What was so captivating to me about this book was the discovery of details about a hugely interesting person who was at the center of an art world that has been my specialty for decades and ancillary insights into Montparnasse as a cultural milieu, not just a low-rent neighborhood where artists could find studio space.
In fact, "Kiki Man Ray" now joins a number of rather wonderful books that offer unique perspectives on Paris and the moment from the beginning of the 20th century through the period between the wars. These include Lesley Blume's "Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece, 'The Sun Also Rises'" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). Even Justin Spring's "The Gourmand's Way: Six Americans in Paris and the Birth of a New Gastronomy" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) is part of that.
The aspect of Braude's book I particularly like is his engagement with Kiki as both a private person and a public center of gravity for the gleeful energy of the moment and the the people that were part of it. In his epilogue--well worth close attention--Braude writes,
"For a few years after the First World War, Kiki experienced her time in Montparnasse as intensely as anyone whose life unfolded alongside hers. She paid attention to everyone and everything around her, watching closely, listening carefully, and then tried to communicate some of what she'd learned through her writing, her posing, her acting, her drawing and painting, and through her performing on the cabaret stage." (p. 253)
The intense misogyny of modernism, the use and abuse of women and the systematized denial of their talent and accomplishments, fills the pages. Braude does not need to hammer the point home--it is wound through every aspect of the story, the way that racism is a structural part of American history, culture, economics and society.
And yet, the social and cultural shackles that Kiki and her sisters wore seem in some ways like exuberant costume jewelry. Alice Prin, Kiki of Montparnasse, was who she was both because of and despite the era and circumstances into which she was born. There is little, I think, that she would have changed. And I can only admire her.
Excellent book. just excellent and sorely needed on my bookshelf of early 20th century art, art history and culture. My main complaint and cause of the loss of a star? Insufficient visual matter. Yes, there is a section of color plates. No, there aren't enough of them. The author Mark Braude spends a lot of time describing people, places and works of art but does not provide the illustrational support that the text cries out for.
For instance, what about a map of Montparnasse (and Paris as a whole) in the 1920s? There are plenty of them out there and the particular focus on apartment addresses and cafe locations needs a map. In fact, a map of France marked with a few of the locations referred to often, including Kiki/Alice Prin's beloved Chatillon-sur-Seine, where she lived with her grandmother. Such illustrations do not require color plates, just black-and-white figures in the text.
What about a few street views of Montparnasse in the 1920s, especially views including cafes like the Cafes du Dome and de la Rotonde? Same thing. These can be illustrations tucked in as figures.
Where are a few more portraits of Kiki by such luminaries as Amedeo Modigliani and Per Krogh? Yes, Maurice Mendjizky plays an important role in the story, but three color plates for so minor a painter? Especially when Braude only offers discussion of one of them?
Finally, what about Man Ray. Other than Kiki herself, he is the single most important figure in the book. His art, including his Rayographs, fashion shots and portraits are discussed endlessly. One or two portraits of some of the ancillary individuals who are part of the narrative would, as they say, kill two birds with one stone. His fashion work is singularly important, and was during the years of his relationship with Kiki. The Rayographs--and especially the ones used in "Vanity Fair" magazine. Again, black-and-white images don't have to be printed on coated stock and included with the color plates. Even the lesser quality of figures is adequate, and certainly enough to support the text.
Okay. The fact is that the bean-counters at all these publishers--and shame on you here, W.W. Norton & Company!--don't want to underwrite copyeditors, proofreaders or worthy illustration and design. I mean, why spend money on books they expect to go through one hardbound printing and maybe a paperback trade edition, but then disappear forever? The fact that this book is an invaluable addition for both feminist and art historical libraries is apparently irrelevant to them. When I was teaching modernism/20th century art, I always taught this material, and I would have made some of this book required homework.
But on to the story. "Kiki of Montparnasse" was always a throwaway name when I learned art history in the 1970s. She was a model and in no way particularly relevant to the presentation of the art. In this way she was not unlike Edouard Manet's favorite model, Victorine Meurend, or Jo Heffernan who graced the paintings of both James McNeil Whistler and Gustave Courbet. What was so captivating to me about this book was the discovery of details about a hugely interesting person who was at the center of an art world that has been my specialty for decades and ancillary insights into Montparnasse as a cultural milieu, not just a low-rent neighborhood where artists could find studio space.
In fact, "Kiki Man Ray" now joins a number of rather wonderful books that offer unique perspectives on Paris and the moment from the beginning of the 20th century through the period between the wars. These include Lesley Blume's "Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece, 'The Sun Also Rises'" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). Even Justin Spring's "The Gourmand's Way: Six Americans in Paris and the Birth of a New Gastronomy" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) is part of that.
The aspect of Braude's book I particularly like is his engagement with Kiki as both a private person and a public center of gravity for the gleeful energy of the moment and the the people that were part of it. In his epilogue--well worth close attention--Braude writes,
"For a few years after the First World War, Kiki experienced her time in Montparnasse as intensely as anyone whose life unfolded alongside hers. She paid attention to everyone and everything around her, watching closely, listening carefully, and then tried to communicate some of what she'd learned through her writing, her posing, her acting, her drawing and painting, and through her performing on the cabaret stage." (p. 253)
The intense misogyny of modernism, the use and abuse of women and the systematized denial of their talent and accomplishments, fills the pages. Braude does not need to hammer the point home--it is wound through every aspect of the story, the way that racism is a structural part of American history, culture, economics and society.
And yet, the social and cultural shackles that Kiki and her sisters wore seem in some ways like exuberant costume jewelry. Alice Prin, Kiki of Montparnasse, was who she was both because of and despite the era and circumstances into which she was born. There is little, I think, that she would have changed. And I can only admire her.
December 31, 2025
If you want to be cynical Kiki de Montparnasse (Alice Prin to her mother) was mostly a person famous for being famous, having lucked out by living in Paris with the right artistic crowd and capturing their collective imaginations. As Braude notes, when as a performer one is most noted for the projection of personality it's not as though gestures leave a lot of documentary evidence behind.
Still, there's no denying that Kiki did make an impact, and as a muse she was well documented (ahem), most notably by the art photographer Man Ray. That a copy of "Noire et blanche," Man Ray's study of Kiki posed with an African mask went for north of 3 million dollars at auction in 2017 would no doubt highly amuse the woman. She was certainly somewhat cynical about the messianic tendencies of the Surrealists.
Read this as another slice of the pie of Paris in the 1920s.
Actual rating: 3.5.
Still, there's no denying that Kiki did make an impact, and as a muse she was well documented (ahem), most notably by the art photographer Man Ray. That a copy of "Noire et blanche," Man Ray's study of Kiki posed with an African mask went for north of 3 million dollars at auction in 2017 would no doubt highly amuse the woman. She was certainly somewhat cynical about the messianic tendencies of the Surrealists.
Read this as another slice of the pie of Paris in the 1920s.
Actual rating: 3.5.
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January 11, 2026“In an age of irony, and at the center of a community of artists who wore their sense of detachment like a badge, Kiki with her paintings outdid them all for provocation. She went for the heart. Nothing in her pictures is pale, little is shaded. They are suffused with sadness, but only because they try so hard to deny there is such a thing as sadness altogether. Which makes them, in their own way, dangerous. By fighting against sadness, Kiki’s paintings take on a madcap quality, blatant in their desire for peace and happiness and blue skies. She presents the most dangerous idea of all: tenderness. She wants to evoke genuine sentiment, without any hedges, or guile, or winking asides. Her paintings ask, with no sense of embarrassment: isn’t the world such a beautiful place?”
January 14, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed this biography of Kiki de Montparnasse and Man Ray as individual artists and as companion artists. The story's as bold and outrageous as the Dada and Surrealist movements.
Braude is a pro at describing 1920s Paris, the Lost Generation that coalesced in France between wars and following a pandemic as young adults and the art movements created with and around Kiki. The book focuses on the life and art of Kiki and Man Ray during the Roaring Twenties but also makes space to talk about their relationships with contemporary artists and that list is long. Everybody who was anybody is friends with Kiki and Man Ray and we meet them all from Hemingway to Picasso to Stein to Joyce - they all posed, partied, performed or purchased from one another throughout the 20s.
We follow Kiki, Man Ray and friends as they invent and experiment with new art and culture. In particular, Kiki and other muses of the time claim their own individuality as artists, writers and performers. "In this new era, the artist's model, fully cognizant of her power will no longer be the decor, she will be the actor too."
Braude is great at describing key art pieces but get your wikiart open while reading for some extra art appreciation. Braude is a fantastic writer and takes time to explain particular artistic styles and meaning so this book ends up feeling like two biographies plus an art book without ever feeling overfull or losing the thread.
This was an amazing read and my first 5 stars of 2024
Braude is a pro at describing 1920s Paris, the Lost Generation that coalesced in France between wars and following a pandemic as young adults and the art movements created with and around Kiki. The book focuses on the life and art of Kiki and Man Ray during the Roaring Twenties but also makes space to talk about their relationships with contemporary artists and that list is long. Everybody who was anybody is friends with Kiki and Man Ray and we meet them all from Hemingway to Picasso to Stein to Joyce - they all posed, partied, performed or purchased from one another throughout the 20s.
We follow Kiki, Man Ray and friends as they invent and experiment with new art and culture. In particular, Kiki and other muses of the time claim their own individuality as artists, writers and performers. "In this new era, the artist's model, fully cognizant of her power will no longer be the decor, she will be the actor too."
Braude is great at describing key art pieces but get your wikiart open while reading for some extra art appreciation. Braude is a fantastic writer and takes time to explain particular artistic styles and meaning so this book ends up feeling like two biographies plus an art book without ever feeling overfull or losing the thread.
This was an amazing read and my first 5 stars of 2024
April 12, 2023
Kiki de Montparnasse! How many times has she shown up in the books I have read about Paris in the 20's and 30's. But she is always a fleeting character, an infamous cafe dancer, singer and denizen of the Montparnasse "scene". Always somewhere in the background. Finally I got to read her story and it is a pretty remarkable one. She essentially came out of nowhere (a small French village) and conquered Paris. She was so many things to so many of the artists of the period....muse, model, actress as well as a dancer and singer. Her relationship with Man Ray at the beginning of his career led to many of his most renowned photographs. Importantly she was also an artist in her own rite, producing some beautiful paintings of her own. There is much to absorb here and a great deal about the artists (Cubist, Dadaist & Surrealist) who created and sustained the Montparnasse artists scene in Paris between the wars.
Highly recommended for those interested in this period.
Highly recommended for those interested in this period.
November 2, 2022
A fascinating biography of Alice Prin AKA Kiki Man Ray, model, chanteuse, painter, actor and ribald Queen of Montparnasse. Born in 1901 into a poor family in Burgundy, Kiki was largely brought up by her grandmother and never knew her biological father. After working in various menial jobs, she eventually made her way to Montparnasse and was at the centre of the spinning vortex of an emerging avant-garde. She is perhaps best known today as the model in Man Ray's famous photographs Le Violin d'Ingres (1924) and Noire et blanche (1926). But there is more to this feisty and talented woman than being a muse for male artists. The overall arc of her life is tragic, with periods of deep instability, a craving for attention and reliance on booze and drugs that eventually wore her and her partners down to shadows of their former selves. But there are moments of triumph too - of being loved and admired for audacity and style as well as her talents as a performer. Sometimes I could have done without the lengthy hypotheticals about individual images and the motivations of those involved. Overall, though, it was both a satisfying and an entertaining read, bringing to life this lively chapter of Parisian cultural history. There's a huge cast of famous walk ons - everyone from Hemingway to Helena Rubinstein. And I found out that my bohemian mothers' penchant for receiving visitors without wearing any underwear was actually, well, old hat.
August 11, 2022
When I think about Kiki de Montparnasse and Man Ray I visualize Le violon d’Ingres and that was all I knew about their relationship and about Kiki.
This well researched book make me learned a lot about these two artists and the great characters that were part of their world.
It's a highly recommended read if you want to learn about an exceptional woman and her life.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
This well researched book make me learned a lot about these two artists and the great characters that were part of their world.
It's a highly recommended read if you want to learn about an exceptional woman and her life.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
February 5, 2023
If you are a great enthusiast of the Parisian writers and artists of this era, you’ll likely enjoy this immersive trip to Montparnasse in its heyday as a community of creatives.
There’s a good amount of lesser-known information on Kiki herself here, as well as a plenty of background on the community and its inhabitants if you’re new to the subject.
That Kiki was a character who added much to the local color is undoubtable, as is the fact that she never got the credit she deserved for much of anything because she was a woman. But I find myself disagreeing with one of the principal arguments made by this book, which is an assertion that Kiki was some sort of genius as an artist.
Was she a better artist than she was credited as? Absolutely. But does she belong in the company of Man Ray and other greats of the era as a creator of timeless value and skill? Nah. I further disagree with the argument that Kiki was so greatly responsible for Man Ray’s genius. But then, I’m never one to overvalue the true “contribution” of a muse.
That said, as a larger than life character of the neighborhood in a neighborhood where everyone is a character, Kiki is certainly a standout, and it’s fun to read about her exploits and also the path that led her there.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
There’s a good amount of lesser-known information on Kiki herself here, as well as a plenty of background on the community and its inhabitants if you’re new to the subject.
That Kiki was a character who added much to the local color is undoubtable, as is the fact that she never got the credit she deserved for much of anything because she was a woman. But I find myself disagreeing with one of the principal arguments made by this book, which is an assertion that Kiki was some sort of genius as an artist.
Was she a better artist than she was credited as? Absolutely. But does she belong in the company of Man Ray and other greats of the era as a creator of timeless value and skill? Nah. I further disagree with the argument that Kiki was so greatly responsible for Man Ray’s genius. But then, I’m never one to overvalue the true “contribution” of a muse.
That said, as a larger than life character of the neighborhood in a neighborhood where everyone is a character, Kiki is certainly a standout, and it’s fun to read about her exploits and also the path that led her there.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
November 29, 2024
After reading Man Ray's Self Portrait, I craved more knowledge on Kiki that would do her justice so I was excited to pick this up! It's definitely presented a much more detailed vision on her, both in her relationship with Man Ray but also as an artist and performer in her own right. To back up this final point, I wish there had been more descriptions of her artwork and that more had been included in the photo section so I could get a better sense of her art. I also wish that her life after Man Ray had been more detailed, but I wonder if that is due to less sources and info available? Regardless, I've enjoyed getting a much better understanding of Kiki!
August 2, 2022
Finally an author who has honoured the great Kiki de Montparnasse - the woman who’s name should be commonplace in fashion and photography.
This was a lovely read of a romantic comedy which is so relevant today.
This was a lovely read of a romantic comedy which is so relevant today.
March 1, 2023
Più che per la vita di Kiki, risulta una lettura interessante per l'ambientazione storica e geografica, la Parigi degli anni folli. Grave mancanza però l'assenza di fotografie e immagini, per la biografia di una musa di fotografi e pittori è abbastanza inconcepibile.
December 1, 2023
This book transported me and made me feel like I was actively living alongside Kiki. I loved how much it celebrated her while also not shying away from being honest. I truly just wish there were more pictures or at least a reference guide as the author discusses so many different paintings and photographs.
March 12, 2023
I"ve read a lot of books set in Paris in the 20s-Mary McAuliffe's Paris when it sizzles, Ruth Brandon's The Surrealists, Whitney Scharrer's Age of Light, Paula Maclain's The Paris Wife, Francine Prose's Lovers at the Chameleon Club and of course A moveable feast. They're all excellent and reveal a different facet of life, none of it overly romanticized. Most of them, though, are about the artists and I liked that this book was about the close relationship[ between the artist and the muse, for some artworks. 'Mistral's daughter', by Judith Krantz, is a well-written (for a writer whose work can be quite pulp-y at times) account, from the perspective of a famous artist’s muse, and reading this book was like the non-fiction version. Alice Prin, or Kiki de MOntparnasse as she styled herself, was a forerunner of a social media influencer. She wanted leave her provincial life behind, and make it in Paris, and she succeeded-on the sheer force of her personality and her constant evolution of image. Mopntparnasse at the time, was starting to get a reputation for the place where the action was: it’s not very far from the Academie des Beaux Arts, and artist who didn’t get accepted there ( which reads like a Who’s WHO of 20th Century Art), ended up staying in here, in inexpensive accommodation, and using, and living in a large space of workshops, constructed using materials from Exposition Universelle at the end of the 19th Century. That was where Kiki wanted to be. She just about survived in Paris, off the kindness of others in some instances, and off sheer grit in others, and doing whatever she could. Her reputation grew as an interesting artist's model-one who wasn't conventional and took an active role in suggesting settings and poses for the artwork. And of course, she was fun, she felt modern, in a way of life that was just beginning to evolve. (To give you a sense of the time, Kiki’s arrival in Paris was just 10 years after the publication of Swann’s Way, with its highly mannered society, nothing said explicitly, Odette, the sort-of courtesan making very veiled delicate references to her situation, and here was Kiki, always ready with a bawdy joke and a ribald song). The process seems a lot more collaborative than it seems-I've seen the Man Ray photo of Kiki with the African mask, and one of the best chapters in the book is about the nearly day-long, exhausting process it was to capture that one photo, with Kiki trying out multiple angles, none of them seemingly working till she hit upon that one perfect pose. Braude writes of how important artist's models were to their survival-a lot of the artists lived off the models' earnings, and all their unpaid labour of cooking, cleaning and keeping house-these were men at the forefront of modernism in their respective artistic field, but some behaviours are too ingrained (and convenient) to be modern about! While the book’s a dual biography of Kiki and Man Ray, and the eventual coming together of their artistic sensibilities, I found the chapters on Kiki a lot more interesting. Reading this from a 21st Century lens is fascinating, when so much of life is performance. That was something Kiki worked at-she made her life a performance, she needed to be in the public eye and crafted how to behave, dress and work a crowd. She also seems to have fostered a sort of sisterhood in Montparnasse, and helped other models, some of whom were life-long friends.
It’s interesting to read of the spirit of collaboration with artist bouncing ideas off each other and trying to find new ways to express themselves, and the extremely generous ones who opened their homes and spaces to them-such as the wonderful Maria Vassilieff. It’s not all written through a golden glow of nostalgia though, but it wasn’t always starvation and exploitation either. Kiki had done what she dreamt of as a child-reinvented herself completely from a provincial nobody to someone at the heart of artistic life at the time. Unfortunately for her, as the years went on, and Europe headed towards another war, her style of entertainment couldn’t keep up with changing tastes, and she couldn’t parlay her image into financial stability. She would be a star now! The book points out that given her success as a singer, it was surprising that she couldn’t make a career recording an album-she tried, but it’s really not as easy as that, and her style of intimate performance with the singer also acting the song, would influence future chanteuses like Edith Piaf. And as the book ends delightfully, with a remembrance of her in Life magazine from one of her Montparnasse friends: Öh, how she laughed”.
It’s interesting to read of the spirit of collaboration with artist bouncing ideas off each other and trying to find new ways to express themselves, and the extremely generous ones who opened their homes and spaces to them-such as the wonderful Maria Vassilieff. It’s not all written through a golden glow of nostalgia though, but it wasn’t always starvation and exploitation either. Kiki had done what she dreamt of as a child-reinvented herself completely from a provincial nobody to someone at the heart of artistic life at the time. Unfortunately for her, as the years went on, and Europe headed towards another war, her style of entertainment couldn’t keep up with changing tastes, and she couldn’t parlay her image into financial stability. She would be a star now! The book points out that given her success as a singer, it was surprising that she couldn’t make a career recording an album-she tried, but it’s really not as easy as that, and her style of intimate performance with the singer also acting the song, would influence future chanteuses like Edith Piaf. And as the book ends delightfully, with a remembrance of her in Life magazine from one of her Montparnasse friends: Öh, how she laughed”.
February 21, 2024
It was only through the diaries of Anais Nin that I was familiar at all with the La Rotonde brasserie, and how it defined the artists' neighborhood in Paris known as Montparnasse, which hit its peak of influence about a decade before Anais Nin and Henry Miller discovered it. It's odd that I hadn't grasped Montparnasse's significance, since I was fascinated with Dadaist and Surrealist movements since my teen years, but somehow never thought to ask about the kind of environment that could bring such movements to life.
In the beginning of the millenium, I heard and saw a 75th anniversary recreation of the musical composition Ballet Mecanique, and the odd 15-minute film it was scored f0r. The film spurred my interest in the musical works of George Antheil (and his subsequent collaboration with Hedy Lamar in the invention of spread-spectrum radio). I then wanted to learn more about filmmakers Fernand Leger, Man Ray, and Dudley Murphy. There was a lot of background material on the photographer Man Ray, but not much on the mysterious kaleidoscopic woman at the heart of the film. Somehow it did not surprise me to learn this was Ray's common-law wife, Kiki Man Ray, born Alice Prin. But I was surprised a few months ago to learn that she was the subject of an eponymous biography written by cultural historian Mark Braude.
Braude may not be one of those hyper-literate historians that leaves you breathless with each passage, but he writes about a topic that is little known to Americans, outside the "expat in Paris in the 1920s" trope. Braude conveys a sense of fun, discovery, and adventure that makes this a dazzling read.
The first couple chapters on Alice Prin's childhood don't set an immediate appeal, since it's obvious Braude has to rely primarily on Kiki's own memoir, Kiki Souvenirs, because her entire life was so short on primary source material. Once she arrives in Paris, however, the book takes on a vibrant tone, describing her work as an artist's model for the likes of Mendjizky, Modigliani, Kizling, and Foujita. Her later ties to Man Ray begin early in the 1920s, and the era in which they lived together was brief, but represented the height of Montparnasse arts culture in France. She probably is not exaggerating her self-importance when she says it was her influence that slowly turned Man Ray from painting to photography.
Kiki Man Ray/Alice Prin was a cultural leader in many of the types of media for which Montparnasse became famous. She was a painter of colorful folk-art works suggestive of Matisse. She was a model and muse. She was a singer at several bars and clubs, setting templates for anyone from Janis Joplin to Edith Piaf, though she made no phonograph recordings until 1939-40. She wrote two distinct versions of her memoirs, which were beloved throughout Paris. Ernest Hemingway wrote the introduction to the memoirs. And she was the star of two Man Ray movies, Ballet Mecanique and L'Etoile de Mer. Yet she largely has been erased from history - though a photo Man Ray took in 1926, Noire et blanche, sold at a Christie's auction in 2017 for more than $3 million, the most fetched for an early 20th-century photograph in an art auction.
So why the invisibility? Braude is not afraid to say that this is largely the result of the intense sexism, even misogynism, at the heart of the Dada and Surrealist movements. The examples given of even the best-behaved artists in the bunch, like Marcel Duchamp and Andre Breton, show them to be as overt in their sexism as the primary writers of the Beat movement would prove to be in the 1950s. Women were ignored because their work was seen as tangential to the men behind art movements. What Braude only hints at is why Man Ray treated Kiki in such a superficial fashion, when the two women he was later associated with, photographer Lee Miller and dancer Juliet Browner, were treated with much more genuine respect. Was it Kiki's rural Burgundian background, or the thin line separating artist models from prostitutes, that made him treat Kiki as more of an accessory than a lover? Braude can only guess. We may find plenty of artifacts of Dada, Surrealist, and Montparnasse culture, but as far as gaining detailed insights on the motivations of the artists and players, we are left largely to our own devices.
Kiki was at her height of influence at the end of the 1920s, by which time she and Man Ray had parted. Following the Wall Street crash of 1929, Kiki entered a period of long decline, being propped up by friends through multiple drug and alcohol crises. Later legends like Anais Nin and Edith Piaf got to meet the woman they had idolized, but by the time Paris had recovered from WW2, Kiki was a dissolute and prematurely-elderly version of her former self, devoid of teeth and sporting only a hint of her former singing voice. She was buried in a pauper's grave (unlike Man Ray's own burial in the main Montparnasse cemetery), but Braude has gone a long way in reviving the Kiki legend. It's time for a critical re-examination of Dada, Surrealism, and the entire inter-war years of the arts in Paris.
In the beginning of the millenium, I heard and saw a 75th anniversary recreation of the musical composition Ballet Mecanique, and the odd 15-minute film it was scored f0r. The film spurred my interest in the musical works of George Antheil (and his subsequent collaboration with Hedy Lamar in the invention of spread-spectrum radio). I then wanted to learn more about filmmakers Fernand Leger, Man Ray, and Dudley Murphy. There was a lot of background material on the photographer Man Ray, but not much on the mysterious kaleidoscopic woman at the heart of the film. Somehow it did not surprise me to learn this was Ray's common-law wife, Kiki Man Ray, born Alice Prin. But I was surprised a few months ago to learn that she was the subject of an eponymous biography written by cultural historian Mark Braude.
Braude may not be one of those hyper-literate historians that leaves you breathless with each passage, but he writes about a topic that is little known to Americans, outside the "expat in Paris in the 1920s" trope. Braude conveys a sense of fun, discovery, and adventure that makes this a dazzling read.
The first couple chapters on Alice Prin's childhood don't set an immediate appeal, since it's obvious Braude has to rely primarily on Kiki's own memoir, Kiki Souvenirs, because her entire life was so short on primary source material. Once she arrives in Paris, however, the book takes on a vibrant tone, describing her work as an artist's model for the likes of Mendjizky, Modigliani, Kizling, and Foujita. Her later ties to Man Ray begin early in the 1920s, and the era in which they lived together was brief, but represented the height of Montparnasse arts culture in France. She probably is not exaggerating her self-importance when she says it was her influence that slowly turned Man Ray from painting to photography.
Kiki Man Ray/Alice Prin was a cultural leader in many of the types of media for which Montparnasse became famous. She was a painter of colorful folk-art works suggestive of Matisse. She was a model and muse. She was a singer at several bars and clubs, setting templates for anyone from Janis Joplin to Edith Piaf, though she made no phonograph recordings until 1939-40. She wrote two distinct versions of her memoirs, which were beloved throughout Paris. Ernest Hemingway wrote the introduction to the memoirs. And she was the star of two Man Ray movies, Ballet Mecanique and L'Etoile de Mer. Yet she largely has been erased from history - though a photo Man Ray took in 1926, Noire et blanche, sold at a Christie's auction in 2017 for more than $3 million, the most fetched for an early 20th-century photograph in an art auction.
So why the invisibility? Braude is not afraid to say that this is largely the result of the intense sexism, even misogynism, at the heart of the Dada and Surrealist movements. The examples given of even the best-behaved artists in the bunch, like Marcel Duchamp and Andre Breton, show them to be as overt in their sexism as the primary writers of the Beat movement would prove to be in the 1950s. Women were ignored because their work was seen as tangential to the men behind art movements. What Braude only hints at is why Man Ray treated Kiki in such a superficial fashion, when the two women he was later associated with, photographer Lee Miller and dancer Juliet Browner, were treated with much more genuine respect. Was it Kiki's rural Burgundian background, or the thin line separating artist models from prostitutes, that made him treat Kiki as more of an accessory than a lover? Braude can only guess. We may find plenty of artifacts of Dada, Surrealist, and Montparnasse culture, but as far as gaining detailed insights on the motivations of the artists and players, we are left largely to our own devices.
Kiki was at her height of influence at the end of the 1920s, by which time she and Man Ray had parted. Following the Wall Street crash of 1929, Kiki entered a period of long decline, being propped up by friends through multiple drug and alcohol crises. Later legends like Anais Nin and Edith Piaf got to meet the woman they had idolized, but by the time Paris had recovered from WW2, Kiki was a dissolute and prematurely-elderly version of her former self, devoid of teeth and sporting only a hint of her former singing voice. She was buried in a pauper's grave (unlike Man Ray's own burial in the main Montparnasse cemetery), but Braude has gone a long way in reviving the Kiki legend. It's time for a critical re-examination of Dada, Surrealism, and the entire inter-war years of the arts in Paris.
November 14, 2022
I have mixed feelings about this book, but because the last third or so of the book moved me I have decided that I appreciate having read it. It bogged down in places because Kiki apparently knew and was known by everyone in the arts in Paris in the 1920's and the book drops famous names endlessly. There also is not much plot to this story, mostly because not many dramatic things happen.
The challenge is that this is a story of a woman's spirit, and that is hard to commit to paper. As a reader, I struggled with deciding whether she was a compelling free spirit, or just self-indulgent.
The tangible aspects of Kiki's life did not strike me as compelling. While Braude is very positive about her paintings, they did not impress me (though I grant that he is an art critic or close to it and I most certainly am not). It's clear that she had no gift as a writer, though she wrote her memoir. From the descriptions, her singing was more effective in emotional impact than vocal quality. But yet everything Kiki did seemed to have an enormous impact on the people who experienced it.
Man Ray comes off badly in this book: self-absorbed with a tendency to be cold and judgmental in his relationship with Kiki. That leaves an unanswered question -- what was it about him that was so compelling for Kiki? He is portrayed so negatively, yet she is so hung up on him. This seemed a literary disconnect to me. (It occurs to me in passing that I am not sure I found Kiki especially likable, either; she was flighty and combative and as self-absorbed as Man Ray was). And, of course, he leaves an artistic legacy of importance, and Kiki fades out with barely a ripple. I suppose that's life, or something glib like that.
I was disappointed by the very limited number of illustrations in this book, especially because the story is so visual. I suppose because it is Kiki's story and not Man Ray's, the only work of his we see consists of photos of Kiki. But he had an artwork called "Tapestry" which was always part of his residential décor, including when he and Kiki lived together, and it is mentioned so often that I was curious about what it looked like, to no avail. Kiki is described as a person of unusual beauty, but the photos included do not demonstrate that, and the reader sees more of her body than her face. I also gather there are few pictures of Kiki and Man Ray together, but I would have liked to see more, as well as her with the two men who followed Man Ray in her life. I am guessing those photos do not exist, so I cannot fault the author for that.
My guess is that Braude has done the best that can be done with the limited documentation available about Kiki and her life. It's a tall order a hundred years later to reconstruct the celebrity she earned in the decade of her prime, and the book is left with an inability to make this fully come to life. Still, if you are interested as I am in that period in Paris and the world of Surrealism, this is a book worth reading.
The challenge is that this is a story of a woman's spirit, and that is hard to commit to paper. As a reader, I struggled with deciding whether she was a compelling free spirit, or just self-indulgent.
The tangible aspects of Kiki's life did not strike me as compelling. While Braude is very positive about her paintings, they did not impress me (though I grant that he is an art critic or close to it and I most certainly am not). It's clear that she had no gift as a writer, though she wrote her memoir. From the descriptions, her singing was more effective in emotional impact than vocal quality. But yet everything Kiki did seemed to have an enormous impact on the people who experienced it.
Man Ray comes off badly in this book: self-absorbed with a tendency to be cold and judgmental in his relationship with Kiki. That leaves an unanswered question -- what was it about him that was so compelling for Kiki? He is portrayed so negatively, yet she is so hung up on him. This seemed a literary disconnect to me. (It occurs to me in passing that I am not sure I found Kiki especially likable, either; she was flighty and combative and as self-absorbed as Man Ray was). And, of course, he leaves an artistic legacy of importance, and Kiki fades out with barely a ripple. I suppose that's life, or something glib like that.
I was disappointed by the very limited number of illustrations in this book, especially because the story is so visual. I suppose because it is Kiki's story and not Man Ray's, the only work of his we see consists of photos of Kiki. But he had an artwork called "Tapestry" which was always part of his residential décor, including when he and Kiki lived together, and it is mentioned so often that I was curious about what it looked like, to no avail. Kiki is described as a person of unusual beauty, but the photos included do not demonstrate that, and the reader sees more of her body than her face. I also gather there are few pictures of Kiki and Man Ray together, but I would have liked to see more, as well as her with the two men who followed Man Ray in her life. I am guessing those photos do not exist, so I cannot fault the author for that.
My guess is that Braude has done the best that can be done with the limited documentation available about Kiki and her life. It's a tall order a hundred years later to reconstruct the celebrity she earned in the decade of her prime, and the book is left with an inability to make this fully come to life. Still, if you are interested as I am in that period in Paris and the world of Surrealism, this is a book worth reading.
August 17, 2022
This novel entailed an incredibly deep and detailed insight into two influential artists of the 1920’s Paris. Braude entails every moment in their lives that would eventually transform their career and their future relationships. This book mainly focuses on Kiki’s massively growing success after laying out the foundations of Alice’s (Kiki) childhood and her struggle out of poverty, an abusive relationship and depression. Kiki’s story is a fascinating one, to come from such depths of poverty to becoming one of the most sought out model and singer in Paris- the Queen of Montparnasse who transformed art. She was the “woman to capture the spirit of their age like no one else, and by doing nothing more that making a performance of herself”. Switching from Kiki, throughout, we also learn about Emmanuel (Man Ray) and his journey as an artist who travelled the Atlantic Ocean to find inspiration and his messy but crucial relationship with Kiki as well as himself. Man Ray played a significant role in surrealism and transformed photography, he was “so in love with destruction, because destruction brought hope”.
As a reader who has been wanting to delve into non fiction, I found this easy to follow and to understand, the story was so rich with detail and Braude’s storytelling kept it intriguing and insightful. The 1920’s Parisian art movement is an extremely fascinating topic, mixing it with a woman as unique as Kiki and a turbulent relationship really transformed everything. I really enjoyed reading about the social change, the effects of the first world war and the impact they made onto the French art movements of cubism and surrealism. Kiki is an icon and Braude portrays that perfectly. It was incredible to read about the what, why, who and the where of every situation alongside the analysis of the reactions and emotions of their peers. I grew to really admire a woman that I had previously little knowledge of. I recommend this to anyone who are interested in back story of art & fashion icons and who are eager to learn about the artists who transform surrealism in a whole new medium.
Many thanks to Netgalley and John Murray Press for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As a reader who has been wanting to delve into non fiction, I found this easy to follow and to understand, the story was so rich with detail and Braude’s storytelling kept it intriguing and insightful. The 1920’s Parisian art movement is an extremely fascinating topic, mixing it with a woman as unique as Kiki and a turbulent relationship really transformed everything. I really enjoyed reading about the social change, the effects of the first world war and the impact they made onto the French art movements of cubism and surrealism. Kiki is an icon and Braude portrays that perfectly. It was incredible to read about the what, why, who and the where of every situation alongside the analysis of the reactions and emotions of their peers. I grew to really admire a woman that I had previously little knowledge of. I recommend this to anyone who are interested in back story of art & fashion icons and who are eager to learn about the artists who transform surrealism in a whole new medium.
Many thanks to Netgalley and John Murray Press for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 6, 2023
I've taken a loooong time to pin my response to this read to paper. Kiki de Montparnasse (fka Alice Ernestine Prin) was the living, breathing personification of the "bohemian" style/culture the artisan community that grew in the Montparnasse district of Paris. It was home to poor artisans of an alternative kind - not the Montmartre district of an earlier generation. These were other types works of art that umbrellaed over poets, photographers, writers, and others whose expressions were off any traditional track - in their artistry, politics, economics, and social interactions.
Mark Braude's book focuses on Kiki and her circle, which changes wildly and whimsically throughout her life. But one of the most conspicuous of her champions is Man Ray, the multi-media artist whose work stars in the works of Dadaism, amongst others. She was his muse, or at least live-in model for 8 years of their lives, and to read of their time together reads like caged tigers on vacation. . . one that lasts until the interest and food run out. Not the least to blame for that scarcity is the impending shadows of nations battling overlapping their playgrounds.
I'm drawn to these artists that dared to live a bohemian life. . .while many conclusions of books like these make careful note of woebegone, poverty stricken and abandoned deaths (?as if that's what they deserved for these less traditional choices?), I find many who chose traditional paths meet their ends in exactly the same uncelebrated obscurity. We are all going to die. Must there always be a party? One thousand years from today, very few of our regular, ordinary names and lives will be remembered at all, and certainly won't be correct as to details. I digress.
This was time well-spent, learning more of these two. I ran into many of my other heroes. . .ee cummings for one! He was one of Kiki's pals. . .although he gets only two mentions, and there is one missing of him in a photograph with Kiki and Ray Man - page 262, where there are two "unidentified friends" sitting at their side on what looks like a fun pause in a day's outing for pictures. The younger man without a hat is no other than E. E. Cummings, himself!
Mark Braude's book focuses on Kiki and her circle, which changes wildly and whimsically throughout her life. But one of the most conspicuous of her champions is Man Ray, the multi-media artist whose work stars in the works of Dadaism, amongst others. She was his muse, or at least live-in model for 8 years of their lives, and to read of their time together reads like caged tigers on vacation. . . one that lasts until the interest and food run out. Not the least to blame for that scarcity is the impending shadows of nations battling overlapping their playgrounds.
I'm drawn to these artists that dared to live a bohemian life. . .while many conclusions of books like these make careful note of woebegone, poverty stricken and abandoned deaths (?as if that's what they deserved for these less traditional choices?), I find many who chose traditional paths meet their ends in exactly the same uncelebrated obscurity. We are all going to die. Must there always be a party? One thousand years from today, very few of our regular, ordinary names and lives will be remembered at all, and certainly won't be correct as to details. I digress.
This was time well-spent, learning more of these two. I ran into many of my other heroes. . .ee cummings for one! He was one of Kiki's pals. . .although he gets only two mentions, and there is one missing of him in a photograph with Kiki and Ray Man - page 262, where there are two "unidentified friends" sitting at their side on what looks like a fun pause in a day's outing for pictures. The younger man without a hat is no other than E. E. Cummings, himself!
April 9, 2024
BX Link: https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/...
Genre: Biography
Where: Paris
When 1920s
Thoughts/Reflections:
This came to me in a “best of 2023 roundabout,” where 13 people around the world picked their favorite read in 2023, and it circles the globe to twelve new readers over the course of 2024. I knew nothing about Kiki or Man Ray, and precious little about the art scene in Paris in the 1920s.
Man Ray is an American photographer exploring his art in Paris, and Kiki is a model and a muse, described as a historical figure who constantly appears in the margins of other people's stories. I knew I was going to like Kiki when my first “favorite quote” appeared on page 1. I’m still not sure how I feel about Man Ray. I wish the author had included additional images and perhaps a map or two... I would have liked to have seen Montparnasse and all of its colorful residents. I’m glad this book came my way.
My favorite quotes
"She knows when to purr, when to growl, is an expert in the well-placed sneer."
"It was simple enough, sitting, standing, lying there, becoming another version of yourself while someone watched."
"History seemed to be nothing more than coming up with new names for old things."
"Kings and queens come and go, but the clever jester keeps laughing through several regimes."
"He was very happy being an amateur. He loved film as a medium, not as a profession."
"She may have been in the fast life, but she was never of it."
"They turned me into an image: 'Kiki.' And I was obligated to live up to it, even when I didn't feel like it."
"We laughed, mon Dieu, how we laughed."
Genre: Biography
Where: Paris
When 1920s
Thoughts/Reflections:
This came to me in a “best of 2023 roundabout,” where 13 people around the world picked their favorite read in 2023, and it circles the globe to twelve new readers over the course of 2024. I knew nothing about Kiki or Man Ray, and precious little about the art scene in Paris in the 1920s.
Man Ray is an American photographer exploring his art in Paris, and Kiki is a model and a muse, described as a historical figure who constantly appears in the margins of other people's stories. I knew I was going to like Kiki when my first “favorite quote” appeared on page 1. I’m still not sure how I feel about Man Ray. I wish the author had included additional images and perhaps a map or two... I would have liked to have seen Montparnasse and all of its colorful residents. I’m glad this book came my way.
My favorite quotes
"She knows when to purr, when to growl, is an expert in the well-placed sneer."
"It was simple enough, sitting, standing, lying there, becoming another version of yourself while someone watched."
"History seemed to be nothing more than coming up with new names for old things."
"Kings and queens come and go, but the clever jester keeps laughing through several regimes."
"He was very happy being an amateur. He loved film as a medium, not as a profession."
"She may have been in the fast life, but she was never of it."
"They turned me into an image: 'Kiki.' And I was obligated to live up to it, even when I didn't feel like it."
"We laughed, mon Dieu, how we laughed."
November 16, 2022
Kiki de Montparnasse, née Alice Prin, was the toast of Dada and Surrealist Paris, who knew and charmed seemingly every major artistic and literary player in that fascinating post WWI period. I’ve long wanted to read “Kiki: Souvenirs”, her memoir, which is inexplicably out of print and ridiculously expensive second-hand in English translation. This new biography does a fine job of telling her story though, focusing on her years-long relationship with Man Ray and her role as his muse, creating such iconic works as “Le Violon d’Ingres” (the original and unique print of which sold at auction for over 12 million dollars recently, a record for a photograph) and “Noire et Blanche”, as well as his surrealist films “Emak Bakia” and “Le Retour à Raison”.
She was much more than that however: an earthy chanteuse, an artist’s model and inspiration for many painters including Modigliani, Soutine, and Foujita, a painter of some (albeit self-taught and naïve) merit herself, and a fascinating character who came to epitomize the neighborhood which was the epicenter of the avant-garde and which gave her her self-styled monicker.
After a hard-scrabble upbringing as an illegitimate “love child” raised by her Grandmother in rural Bordeaux, she found her way to Paris in her late teens and created that new and edgy persona. The tales of her Parisian years are populated with everyone from Marcel Duchamp to Nancy Cunard, Tristan Tzara to Jean Cocteau, from Robert Desnos and André Breton to Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway (who penned the introduction to her memoirs.) She was a fixture in the principle venues where all these iconic figures gathered, both as a patron and performer — La Coupule, Le Dome, Le Boeuf Sur Le Toit — where locals and tourists alike clamored to witness her rough and risqué performances. As such this is a must-read for anyone interested in the artistic and social swirl of that era in Paris.
Her later years are a sad tale of decline as her habitual heavy drinking and cocaine abuse took their toll, though she occasionally rallied to perform, and to produce a few recordings of her songs (available on YouTube.)
She died much younger than she might have, as a result. But she was certainly always her own woman, liberated from society’s constraining dictates, and there’s something admirable about her sheer moxie and zeitgeist-seizing character. She was both tough, and kind, and certainly no poseur. And she’s certainly one of those one-of-a-kind characters that are fascinating to read about. If her memoirs ever see a reissue (Wakefield Press, are you listening? Get Stableford on a good new translation if you can!) I’ll certainly want to read them, though apparently they elide much of the less savory and unpleasant episodes of her life, especially Man Ray’s apparent cruelty. She was certainly a handful, and neither were faithful to each other, but though a great artist, he comes off as a nasty, misogynistic jerk (as he most often does, in the accounts of him I’ve read). Altogether, it’s a pretty vivid window onto a fascinating time and place, and a fitting memorial to one of its great originals.
She was much more than that however: an earthy chanteuse, an artist’s model and inspiration for many painters including Modigliani, Soutine, and Foujita, a painter of some (albeit self-taught and naïve) merit herself, and a fascinating character who came to epitomize the neighborhood which was the epicenter of the avant-garde and which gave her her self-styled monicker.
After a hard-scrabble upbringing as an illegitimate “love child” raised by her Grandmother in rural Bordeaux, she found her way to Paris in her late teens and created that new and edgy persona. The tales of her Parisian years are populated with everyone from Marcel Duchamp to Nancy Cunard, Tristan Tzara to Jean Cocteau, from Robert Desnos and André Breton to Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway (who penned the introduction to her memoirs.) She was a fixture in the principle venues where all these iconic figures gathered, both as a patron and performer — La Coupule, Le Dome, Le Boeuf Sur Le Toit — where locals and tourists alike clamored to witness her rough and risqué performances. As such this is a must-read for anyone interested in the artistic and social swirl of that era in Paris.
Her later years are a sad tale of decline as her habitual heavy drinking and cocaine abuse took their toll, though she occasionally rallied to perform, and to produce a few recordings of her songs (available on YouTube.)
She died much younger than she might have, as a result. But she was certainly always her own woman, liberated from society’s constraining dictates, and there’s something admirable about her sheer moxie and zeitgeist-seizing character. She was both tough, and kind, and certainly no poseur. And she’s certainly one of those one-of-a-kind characters that are fascinating to read about. If her memoirs ever see a reissue (Wakefield Press, are you listening? Get Stableford on a good new translation if you can!) I’ll certainly want to read them, though apparently they elide much of the less savory and unpleasant episodes of her life, especially Man Ray’s apparent cruelty. She was certainly a handful, and neither were faithful to each other, but though a great artist, he comes off as a nasty, misogynistic jerk (as he most often does, in the accounts of him I’ve read). Altogether, it’s a pretty vivid window onto a fascinating time and place, and a fitting memorial to one of its great originals.
January 5, 2023
Upon reading this book I'm reminded of the song Cabaret.
"I used to have this girlfriend known as Elsie
With whom I shared for sordid rooms in Chelsea
She wasn't what you'd call a blushing flower
As a matter of fact she rented by the hour
The day she died the neighbors came to snick her
Well, that is what comes from too much pills and liquor
But when I saw her laid out like a queen
She was the happiest corpse I'd ever seen"
Substitute Kiki for Elsie and you'd have a similar tale, except for the fact that Kiki drank and danced with the creme of the up and coming artists in 1920s Paris: Modigliani, Stein, Picasso, Matisse, Calder, Hemingway, Duchamp, and of course, Man Ray.
Man Ray, whose photography I've always loved appears to have been a real jerk, at least in his romantic relationships. This book is to a large degree also his story, because it's primarily hsi art that immortalized her, though as Braude notes, she was in the moment, possibly better known than he was, at least by Parisians.
Braude is not judgemental about either of them, simply allowing history to speak for itself, though he clearly feels that Kiki had enough talent to have been successful on her own, had she been willing to focus on art rather than having a good time. It's an excellent, if ultimately sad, portrait of a point in time that will never be repeated, and the cross-pollination of the artists of all stripes who came to that city in that era is fascinating.
"I used to have this girlfriend known as Elsie
With whom I shared for sordid rooms in Chelsea
She wasn't what you'd call a blushing flower
As a matter of fact she rented by the hour
The day she died the neighbors came to snick her
Well, that is what comes from too much pills and liquor
But when I saw her laid out like a queen
She was the happiest corpse I'd ever seen"
Substitute Kiki for Elsie and you'd have a similar tale, except for the fact that Kiki drank and danced with the creme of the up and coming artists in 1920s Paris: Modigliani, Stein, Picasso, Matisse, Calder, Hemingway, Duchamp, and of course, Man Ray.
Man Ray, whose photography I've always loved appears to have been a real jerk, at least in his romantic relationships. This book is to a large degree also his story, because it's primarily hsi art that immortalized her, though as Braude notes, she was in the moment, possibly better known than he was, at least by Parisians.
Braude is not judgemental about either of them, simply allowing history to speak for itself, though he clearly feels that Kiki had enough talent to have been successful on her own, had she been willing to focus on art rather than having a good time. It's an excellent, if ultimately sad, portrait of a point in time that will never be repeated, and the cross-pollination of the artists of all stripes who came to that city in that era is fascinating.
May 8, 2023
Paris between the wars! Will we ever see the like again? It's hard to imagine any particular city becoming the center of an artistic, musical, or literary movement in this day of digitally distributed culture, even though the 20th Century comprised a series of exciting regional social revolutions and a shifting spectrum of local artistic capitals.
As this book clearly demonstrates, besides the creative talents at the center of any movement, the support structure of fans, spouses, agents, and publishers is an essential part of each scene, and Alice Prin -- Kiki to her friends -- was a perfect exemplar of the foundation on which new art was made. Model, mistress, performer, character, and an artist in her own right, she is today best known as the woman with cello frets on her back, a clever surrealist image by Man Ray that fetched $12.4 million at auction a few years ago. Far more valuable is the inspiration she provided for a brief generation and her contribution to the image of a city, a time, a place that defined artistic modernity for the shortest of seasons.
Mark Braude gives Kiki her due here, separating her from the cello and assembling the pieces of her life like a collage into a coherent whole, no easy task for any account of bohemian life. His crisp prose brings the world of Montparnasse to life from a new viewpoint, like seeing a surrealist work from the inside.
As this book clearly demonstrates, besides the creative talents at the center of any movement, the support structure of fans, spouses, agents, and publishers is an essential part of each scene, and Alice Prin -- Kiki to her friends -- was a perfect exemplar of the foundation on which new art was made. Model, mistress, performer, character, and an artist in her own right, she is today best known as the woman with cello frets on her back, a clever surrealist image by Man Ray that fetched $12.4 million at auction a few years ago. Far more valuable is the inspiration she provided for a brief generation and her contribution to the image of a city, a time, a place that defined artistic modernity for the shortest of seasons.
Mark Braude gives Kiki her due here, separating her from the cello and assembling the pieces of her life like a collage into a coherent whole, no easy task for any account of bohemian life. His crisp prose brings the world of Montparnasse to life from a new viewpoint, like seeing a surrealist work from the inside.
April 14, 2024
4.5 stars, rounded up. I think that Braude does something really special here, vividly drawing the viewer into the bohemian realm of Montparnasse in the early 20th century, to reveal a somewhat forgotten bastion of the iconic neighborhood. I recognized Kiki from countless paintings by Modigliani, Kisling, Picabia, and Foujita, and of course, the photographs of Man Ray, but did not know much about her biography. Kiki Man Ray offers readers both a chance to meet intimately an intriguing woman and indulge in a sort of “Midnight in Paris” encounter with the artists, models, and writers of the era.
I disagree with other reviewers who feel that Braude’s writing seeks to give Kiki outsized importance, making her appear as a brighter star or more important than she truly was. Instead, I feel he toes the line brilliantly, retelling her story and returning some of her agency, highlighting her escapades as a model, muse, performer, and artist, while remaining forthcoming of what remains unclear from the patchy archival record and conflicting retellings of her life’s tales.
I will say that more visual material from a broader swath of artists would have been useful, but I know how difficult licensing reproductions can be. The author does take pains to source these additional artworks & references in his writing, so I was able to pause and google the images under discussion.
Loved it overall!
I disagree with other reviewers who feel that Braude’s writing seeks to give Kiki outsized importance, making her appear as a brighter star or more important than she truly was. Instead, I feel he toes the line brilliantly, retelling her story and returning some of her agency, highlighting her escapades as a model, muse, performer, and artist, while remaining forthcoming of what remains unclear from the patchy archival record and conflicting retellings of her life’s tales.
I will say that more visual material from a broader swath of artists would have been useful, but I know how difficult licensing reproductions can be. The author does take pains to source these additional artworks & references in his writing, so I was able to pause and google the images under discussion.
Loved it overall!
August 8, 2022
I have to admit, that I did not know much about Kiki prior to reading this book. However, as a person with a professional interest in photography, I'm familiar with Man Ray's work...
It is an interesting book about an interesting person and touches others, who surrounded her, with special attention to Man Ray himself. Kiki was his friend, partner, muse... you name it. As a very creative person herself, she not only posed for other artists, or acted in films but produced paintings herself. This lead me to the fact, that this book would have strongly benefited from the illustrations - whether pictures artists, especially Man Ray produced of her, or her own work. The descriptions are fairly good but one picture would say more than a hundred words...
Otherwise, this book covers the life of a very overlooked person and reaches out to the sources, which might be difficult to find. It also encourages to read more by anyone who is or gets interested in the particular era, area, person, or certain artists and their work. I might dig out my copy of a book on Man Ray's life and career, which I still didn't get to read yet.
It is an interesting book about an interesting person and touches others, who surrounded her, with special attention to Man Ray himself. Kiki was his friend, partner, muse... you name it. As a very creative person herself, she not only posed for other artists, or acted in films but produced paintings herself. This lead me to the fact, that this book would have strongly benefited from the illustrations - whether pictures artists, especially Man Ray produced of her, or her own work. The descriptions are fairly good but one picture would say more than a hundred words...
Otherwise, this book covers the life of a very overlooked person and reaches out to the sources, which might be difficult to find. It also encourages to read more by anyone who is or gets interested in the particular era, area, person, or certain artists and their work. I might dig out my copy of a book on Man Ray's life and career, which I still didn't get to read yet.
November 29, 2022
Kiki is one of those culturally important figures who shows up on the margins in other people's stories and of larger movements. If you're at all interested in Paris in the 1920s, in the birth and development of modern art, in photography, in early experimental film, in various artistic -isms of the early twentieth century (Dadaism, Surrealism, etc), then you have almost certainly come across Kiki. So it's about time she got some serious attention. Braude is so clearly more interested in Kiki than he is in Man Ray that one almost wishes he had given less space to the latter, but I understand why Man Ray is such a significant figure in this narrative history--he was and is central in presenting Kiki to a broader audience in some of the most famous photographs ever made, and he and Kiki were collaborators throughout most of the most significant period of her cultural activity, the 1920s. If Braude were less invested in a straightforward narrative history and more interested in cultural analysis, too, then he could pay less attention to Man Ray. But that's to wish this were a different kind of book, and the kind of book it is is already pretty interesting.
February 23, 2023
Looked forward to reading this every night to wind down. What a fantastic and fantastically told story about a woman I'd never heard of; a story showing once again that if women wrote history, it would sound very different than what we hear. Note: yes, I know that a man wrote this book. Thank you, Mark Braude!
Kiki was the model for the famous Man Ray photo of a woman's back with the violin cut-outs added but she was so much more. The model for just about every dada and surrealist artist in Paris at the time, cabaret singer, incredible artist in her own right--why did she not get the attention Matisse, Man Ray or any of the other male artists did? Braude highlights how her modelling made the pictures she modelled for as much as the people who painted and photographed her.
In the end, her story is tragic, but what an incredible, inspiring force she was. I wish she'd had more support, internally and externally, to rise above her "always in the moment" way of living, that she'd been able to sit with her crown and community to a ripe old age. I wish she'd been treated more like a creator and less like an amuse-bouche.
Wonderful book. Please read it!
Kiki was the model for the famous Man Ray photo of a woman's back with the violin cut-outs added but she was so much more. The model for just about every dada and surrealist artist in Paris at the time, cabaret singer, incredible artist in her own right--why did she not get the attention Matisse, Man Ray or any of the other male artists did? Braude highlights how her modelling made the pictures she modelled for as much as the people who painted and photographed her.
In the end, her story is tragic, but what an incredible, inspiring force she was. I wish she'd had more support, internally and externally, to rise above her "always in the moment" way of living, that she'd been able to sit with her crown and community to a ripe old age. I wish she'd been treated more like a creator and less like an amuse-bouche.
Wonderful book. Please read it!
January 13, 2023
This is a sad sad story. Alice Prin grew up in extreme poverty. She was left behind by a mother who, once Alice was old enough to work in a factory, retrieved her. Living with her mother in Paris, she learned that by showing a man a leg or a breast, she could earn a few pennies.
In post WWI France she was able to leave factory work by modeling for artists. She absorbed the arts environment of Montparnasse and distinguished herself in as a cabaret performer, a painter (a show of her paintings sold out with the most distinguished collectors in France and the US buying) a writer (her book sold out and reprints still sell today) and as an actress (in films now considered pioneer works).
Mark Braude gives a serviceable portrait of Kiki (and Man Ray) and her times, but does not dig too deeply.
He shows a lot of bad behavior with no exploration on why. There are acts of incredible generosity… when Kiki had nothing… so it was not complete self absorption. Was she responding to abuse with abuse? Was she merely an exhibitionist? Was she creating a character for herself? Did she crave attention because she could not find love? Did she really enjoy her flashy life, or did she feel it was necessary to keep herself in the Montparnasse orbit?
Braude writes of Kiki’s success as an artist. He teases the reader with descriptions of photos she took and clothes she made. Most of the color plates are photos of her, but at least there are there are 3 paintings by her.
Man Ray never had a sellout show but his name and reputation survive. Why the difference? Braude notes that her output is small and hard to find while Man Ray’s is large and visible. Why did she not create more? Was it drugs/alcohol (never stopped many artists) or the need for space or the dismissive ways Man Ray and others spoke of her work?
Could Kiki, but for sexism, have developed a full oeuvre? Would she, if not for her sex appeal, have continued like her mother in an impoverished state?
As in her lifetime she is not allowed to stand on her own; She has to share this biography with her abusive partner who used her for his photographs, paintings and films. Braude notes that Man Ray’s most acclaimed photos are of Kiki. Recently, one sold for $3 million.
While this book tells of her life, and notes the sexism she had to live with (Hemingway’s intro to her and many comments from Man Ray stand out), it does not explore the impact. I’d like to have more perspective on her life with more consideration of her limited options.
In post WWI France she was able to leave factory work by modeling for artists. She absorbed the arts environment of Montparnasse and distinguished herself in as a cabaret performer, a painter (a show of her paintings sold out with the most distinguished collectors in France and the US buying) a writer (her book sold out and reprints still sell today) and as an actress (in films now considered pioneer works).
Mark Braude gives a serviceable portrait of Kiki (and Man Ray) and her times, but does not dig too deeply.
He shows a lot of bad behavior with no exploration on why. There are acts of incredible generosity… when Kiki had nothing… so it was not complete self absorption. Was she responding to abuse with abuse? Was she merely an exhibitionist? Was she creating a character for herself? Did she crave attention because she could not find love? Did she really enjoy her flashy life, or did she feel it was necessary to keep herself in the Montparnasse orbit?
Braude writes of Kiki’s success as an artist. He teases the reader with descriptions of photos she took and clothes she made. Most of the color plates are photos of her, but at least there are there are 3 paintings by her.
Man Ray never had a sellout show but his name and reputation survive. Why the difference? Braude notes that her output is small and hard to find while Man Ray’s is large and visible. Why did she not create more? Was it drugs/alcohol (never stopped many artists) or the need for space or the dismissive ways Man Ray and others spoke of her work?
Could Kiki, but for sexism, have developed a full oeuvre? Would she, if not for her sex appeal, have continued like her mother in an impoverished state?
As in her lifetime she is not allowed to stand on her own; She has to share this biography with her abusive partner who used her for his photographs, paintings and films. Braude notes that Man Ray’s most acclaimed photos are of Kiki. Recently, one sold for $3 million.
While this book tells of her life, and notes the sexism she had to live with (Hemingway’s intro to her and many comments from Man Ray stand out), it does not explore the impact. I’d like to have more perspective on her life with more consideration of her limited options.
October 31, 2022
Kiki de Montparnasse shall never be forgotten so long as I'm concerned. A beacon of joy, partying, and art, Kiki was born to a poor family and uprooted herself to the neighborhood of Montparnasse, Paris, right in the middle of the 1920s art movement amid Man Ray, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and all those other greats. Like many others, her tale is not one of perpetual greatness and fame, though she did have her moments in the spotlight.
She used her singing voice, knack for comedy, and her body to make an audience for herself that was just as riotous and raucous as she was. Her eventual relationship with Man Ray was impassioned, and one that perhaps was doomed from the beginning. But, damn, it was a lot of fun.
Well-referenced and with plenty of snippets of letters and information, Mark Braude has created a successful portrait of this artistic duo, of photographer and muse, that will carry their legacy for decades to come.
She used her singing voice, knack for comedy, and her body to make an audience for herself that was just as riotous and raucous as she was. Her eventual relationship with Man Ray was impassioned, and one that perhaps was doomed from the beginning. But, damn, it was a lot of fun.
Well-referenced and with plenty of snippets of letters and information, Mark Braude has created a successful portrait of this artistic duo, of photographer and muse, that will carry their legacy for decades to come.
December 30, 2022
This is an interesting biography of Kiki Man Ray's life in Paris in the 1920s. She was born in a small town in France and raised by her grandmother after her mother left for Paris. Around age 20 she went to Paris as well. She lived in the Montparnasse neighborhood throughout the decade. This book gives a history of the times when artists of all stripes lived there (e.g. Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast). Kiki became the "queen" of the neighborhood. She was married for a period to Man Ray, the American photographer. I enjoyed the references to a variety of different artists, and their works, that I would look up on Google.
After reading roughly 2/3 of the book, I became a bit weary of the author, Mark Braude, because I think he is in love with Kiki. He would try to attribute motives and thoughts to her that always put her in a positive light. Or, maybe he is simply very sympathetic to a woman who did not get her fare share of credit.
After reading roughly 2/3 of the book, I became a bit weary of the author, Mark Braude, because I think he is in love with Kiki. He would try to attribute motives and thoughts to her that always put her in a positive light. Or, maybe he is simply very sympathetic to a woman who did not get her fare share of credit.
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