Kiki De Montparnasse | MACA - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Alicante

Pablo Gargallo

Kiki of Montparnasse

1928

Technical data

Authorship:

Pablo Gargallo

Title:

Kiki of Montparnasse

Date:

1928

Dimensions:

21 x 17 x 11.5 cm / Base: 18 x 18 x 18 cm

Collection it belongs to:

Collection 20th Century Art

Inventory no.:

XX.060

Photographs

Artwork text

The story of how this sculpture came to the collection is itself remarkable. Thanks to the friendship that united Sempere with Pierrette Gargallo de Anguera, daughter of the sculptor, and after months of negotiations and import procedures, the piece was donated to the Museo de La Asegurada on the condition that the casting costs be assumed by the City Council of Alicante, costs that Sempere himself ended up paying. The sculpture entered the museum on February 9, 1979, cast in the workshops of the Fonderie Coubertin in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.

Pablo Gargallo created this concave mask in polished bronze in 1928 as a portrait of Alice Prin, better known as Kiki of Montparnasse. Kiki was an artist, singer, dancer and painter, a central figure in the bohemian life of 1920s Paris and muse to artists such as Calder, Foujita and Man Ray, who dedicated some of his most famous photographs to her. She never posed for Gargallo, but the artist devoted to her one of his most singular works.

The sculpture is the first and only concave mask in his production. The polished bronze in golden finish represents an oval head with hair styled in a garçon cut like a helmet, a single eye elongated by makeup, the line of the nose and only half a mouth with full lips. Gargallo suppresses half of the defining elements of the face and achieves, through synthesis and the alternation of solid and void, a representation of great expressive power. The piece anticipates the discoveries that the artist would later develop in his metal sheet masks.

Exhibitions

International Biennial, Venice, 1928.

Galerie Georges Bernheim & cie, Paris, 1929.

Sala Parés, Barcelona, 1934.

Centre de la Lectura, Reus, 1934.

Sala Parés, Barcelona, 1935.

Museum of Modern Art, Madrid, 1935.

Galerie René Gimpel, New York, 1937.

Arcades des jardins du Petit Palais, Paris, 1947.

Wilheim- Lehmbruck-Museum, Duisburg, 1966.

Ancienne Douane, Strasbourg, 1970.

Musée Rodin, Paris, 1970.

Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art, Madrid, 1971.

Provincial Council, Zaragoza, 1972.

Palacio de la Virreina, Barcelona, 1972.

Contemporary Sculpture Center, Tokyo, 1974. Traveling Exhibition: Contemporary Sculpture

Center, Osaka, 1974.

Galería del Banco de Granada, Granada, 1975.

Galería Theo, Madrid, 1975.

Artcurial, Centre d'Art Plastique Contemporain, Paris, 1975.

Musée des Arts Decóratifs, Paris, 1976-77.

French Pavilion, International Exposition of Montreal, Montreal, 1977.

Musée Despiau-Wlérick, Mont-de-Marsan, 1978.

Contemporary Sculpture Center, Tokyo, 1978. Traveling Exhibition: traveling August-November.

Musée Jacquemart- André, Paris, 1978-79.

Galerie Carmen Martínez, Paris, 1979.

Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris, 1980.

Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, 1981.

Palacio de Cristal, Madrid, 1981.

Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, 1981.

Lonja, Zaragoza, 1981-1982.

Galerie Marwan Hoss, Grand Palais, Fiac 82, Paris, 1982.

Palacio de Velázquez, Palacio Cristal, Madrid, 1985.

Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, 1986.

Gimpel Fils, London, 1986.

Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo, 1986.

Grand Palais, Paris 1986.

Musée Eugene Boudin, Honfleur, 1986.

Exhibition Hall of the Banco de Bilbao, Madrid, 1987.

Arnold Herstand & Company, New York, 1987.

Palau Robert/Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, 1987.

Musée Municipal, Kawasaki, 1988. Traveling Exhibition: Musée Départamental des Beaux-Arts, Kumamoto, 1989.

Musée d'Art Moderne, Gunma, 1989, Musée Departamental des Beaux Arts, Ehime, 1989.

Centro de Arte Palacio Almudí, Murcia, 1989.

Musée Bourdelle, Paris, 1990.

Fundación Cultural Mapfre Vida, Madrid, 1991.

Sala San Fernando. Sala Imagen, Seville, 1999. Traveling Exhibition: Palma de Mallorca.

"Pablo Gargallo", Sala El Martillo, Murcia; Centro Cultural CAM, Alicante; Centro Cultural CAM, Elche; Centro Cultural CAM, La Llotgeta, Valencia, March-July 2000.

"The Elegant Portrait", Municipal Museum, Madrid, 2001.

"Three Sculptors in Paris: Manolo Hugué, Pablo Gargallo and Julio González", Fundación Caixa Sabadell, Sabadell, 2002.

"Pablo Gargallo", Valencia, Valencian Institute of Modern Art and Biarritz, Centre Bellevue, 2004.

"A Walk Through the Spanish Avant-Garde. A Snapshot by Ramón Gómez de la Serna", Madrid, National Museum Reina Sofía Art Center and Rosario (Argentina), Provincial Historical Museum "Doctor Julio Marc", 2004-2005.

"Pablo Gargallo", Kutxa-Caja de Guipúzcoa, 2007.

"House of European History. Interactions. Centuries of commerce, combat and creation", House of European History, May - September 2017.

Exhibitions of the piece held in this Museum:

"Spanish Sculpture 1900-1936", Madrid, Palacio Velázquez, 1985.

"Gargallo. The New Age of Metals", Madrid, Fundación Cultural Mapfre Vida, 1991.

"Pablo Gargallo", Murcia, Sala El Martillo; Traveling Exhibition: Alicante, Centro Cultural CAM; Elche, Centro Cultural CAM; Valencia, Centro Cultural CAM, La Llotgeta, March-July 2000.

"The Elegant Portrait", Madrid, Municipal Museum, 2001.

"Three Sculptors in Paris: Manolo Hugué, Pablo Gargallo and Julio González", Sabadell, Fundación Caixa Sabadell, 2002.

"Pablo Gargallo", Valencia, IVAM, Valencian Institute of Modern Art; Biarritz, Centre Bellevue, 2004.

"A Walk Through the Spanish Avant-Garde. A Snapshot by Ramón Gómez de la Serna", Madrid, MNCARS; Traveling Exhibition: Rosario (Argentina), Provincial Historical Museum "Doctor Julio Marc", 2004-2005.

-"Pablo Gargallo", San Sebastián, Kutxa Caja Gipuzkoa, 2007.

"House of European History. Interactions. Centuries of commerce, combat and creation", Brussels, House of European History, European Union, 2017. p. 128; il.

Bibliografía

- Gargallo, New York, Brummer Gallery, New York, 1934, no. 21.

- Gargallo, Reus, Centre de lectura, Art Section, 1934, no. 6.

- Gargallo. Exhibition of Sculptures, Barcelona, Sala Parés, 1934, no. 13.

- Pablo Gargallo. Sculptor. Posthumous Exhibition of His Works, Madrid, Museum of Modern Art, 1935, no. 29.

- Exhibition in Tribute to Sculptor Pau Gargallo, Barcelona, Sala Parés, 1935, no. 15.

- Gargallo, New York, René Gimpel Gallery, 1936, no. 18.

- Gargallo, Duisburg, Wilhelm-Lehmbruck Museum, 1966, no. 52.

- Art in Europe around 1925, Strasbourg, Ancienne Douane, 1970, no. 61.

- Gargallo, Paris, Musée Rodin, 1970, no. 58.

- Gargallo 1881-1934, Madrid, Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art, 1971, no. 49.

- Gargallo 1881-1934, Zaragoza, Provincial Council, 1972, no. 12.

- Cubism and Sculpture, Tokyo, Contemporary Sculpture Center, 1974, no. 16.

- Gargallo, Madrid, Theo Gallery, 1975, p.45; ill.

- Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1925 Exhibition, Paris, Museum of Decorative Arts, 1976, no. 99.

- La Ruche-The School of Paris in Montparnasse 1910-1930, Tokyo, Contemporary Sculpture Center, 1978, no. 97.

- Five Catalan Sculptors. Fenosa-Gargallo-González-Manolo-Picasso, Mont-de-Marsan, Despiau-Wlérick Museum, 1978, no. 22.

- La Ruche and Montparnasse, Paris, Jacquemart-André Museum, 1978, no. 47.

- "A Work by Gargallo, Upcoming Addition to the Museum of La Asegurada", Murcia, La Verdad, January 14, 1978.

- "Head of Kikí. A Work by Gargallo to Enrich La Asegurada", Murcia, La Verdad, February 10, 1979.

- Anguera, J.: Gargallo, Paris, 1979, p.128-129; ill.

- Pablo Gargallo 1881-1934, Paris, Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, 1980, no. 81.

- Pablo Gargallo, Lisbon, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1981, no. 78.

- Gargallo 1881-1981. Centennial Exhibition, Madrid, Crystal Palace, 1981, no. 138.

-Bonet Correa, Antonio: Municipal Museum "Casa de la Asegurada", Twentieth Century Art Collection, Alicante, Ed. Municipal Museum "Casa de la Asegurada", 1981, ill b/w. p. 27.

- Gargallo 1881-1934. Centennial Exhibition, Barcelona, Palau de la Virreina, 1981, p.82, no.93; ill.

- Spanish Sculpture 1900-1936, Madrid, Velázquez Palace, Crystal Palace, 1985, p. 137 and 247; ill.

- Pablo Gargallo, Tokyo, Fuji Television Gallery, 1986, no. 23.

- Pablo Gargallo 1881-1934, London, Gimpel Fils, 1986, no. 30.

- Autumn Salon. The Great Adventure of Montparnasse 1912-1932, Paris, Grand Palais, 1986, no. 59.

- Eva and the Future, Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 1986, no. 100.

- Pablo Gargallo. Sculpture, New York, Arnold Herstand & Company, 1987, no. 11.

- Art Collectors in Catalonia, Barcelona, Palau Robert/Palau de la Virreina, 1987, no. 85.

- The Great Adventure of Montparnasse 1910-1930, Kawasaki, Municipal Museum, 1988, no. 71.

- Artists at La Coupole. Montparnasse 1918-1940, Paris, Bourdelle Museum, 1990, no. 109.

- Gargallo-Anguera, Pierrette: Pablo Gargallo, Catalogue Raisonné, Paris, 1998, p.171; ill. Plates 51 and 158.

- Kluver, B and Martín, J.: Kikí's Paris. Artists and Lovers 1900-1930, Barcelona, 1990, p.245; ill.

- Gargallo. The New Age of Metals, Madrid, Mapfre Vida Cultural Foundation, 1991, p.112, cat. no. 42; ill.

- Prats Rivelles, Rafael: "Valencian Museums. Municipal Museum of La Asegurada in Alicante", Valencia, Cimal International Art, no. 46, 1996, ill. p.76.

-AA.VV.: Twentieth Century Art Collection. Museum of La Asegurada / Alicante, Alicante, City Council, 1998, p. 41.

- Pablo Gargallo. Sculptures, Cardboard Works and Drawings, Seville, Sala San Fernando, Sala Imagen, 1999, p.70 and cover; ill.

- Pablo Gargallo, Alicante, Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo, 2000, p. 74-75; ill.

-The Elegant Portrait, Madrid, Municipal Museum of Madrid, 2000, p. 190, cat. No. CXXIV: ill.

- Three Sculptors in Paris: Pau Gargallo, Juli González, Manolo Hugué, Sabadell, Caixa de Sabadell Foundation, 2002, 53.

- Castells González, Rosa Mª (Coord): Municipal Heritage. 5 Years of Restoration in Alicante, Alicante, Municipal Culture Board, City Council of Alicante, 2002, p. 231, ill.

- Pablo Gargallo, Valencia, Valencian Institute of Modern Art, 2004, p. 258-259.

- "Pablo Gargallo", Madrid, Discover Art Notebooks, 2004, p. 23.

- A Walk Through Spanish Avant-Garde. Snapshot by Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Madrid, National Museum Reina Sofía Art Center, Madrid, 2004.

- Pablo Gargallo, San Sebastián, Kutxa Caja Gipuzkoa, 2007.

- House of European History. Interactions. Centuries of Commerce, Combat and Creation, Brussels, House of European History, European Union, 2017. p. 128; ill.

-Trading Cards Album. Twentieth Century Art Collection. 40th Anniversary, Alicante, Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante, 2017, p. 4, card no. 5.

Artist

Pablo Gargallo

Maella, Spain , 1881 - 1881

He was a Spanish sculptor and painter.
Born in Maella, Zaragoza, he moved with his family to Barcelona in 1888, where he began his artistic training. He spent part of his life in the Montparnasse neighborhood of Paris. In 1903, in Paris, he lived ...

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"Kiki de Montparnasse" by Pablo Gargallo. Rosa Castells, curator of the MACA, explains a work from the collection in 1 minute.

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