In 1921, having broken with his wife, adon lacroix, Man Ray left new york for paris. there he would meet alice prin – a bohemian artist’s model & famous performer who went by the name Kiki de Montparnasse – kiki was slang for vagina. for 8 years she would be his constant companion and most famous muse & model. she posed for such photographs as violon d’ingres (1924) and blanche et noire (1926) and hundreds more, including experimental films. it is rumoured that there are pornographic images of the two of them – including one where Kiki is performing fellatio on man ray. they seemed to have a passionate, tumultuous affair that ended in 1929. Kiki had become too much for Man Ray- she was noisily arrested after she got into a fight in a bar in nice & hit a policeman who called her a whore. man ray arranged for a lawyer to represent her who could only get her out of prison by declaring that she had a "nervous disorder". their relationship was sporatic after that & ended when man ray fell in love with his assistant lee miller. Kiki was herself already involved in another affair. the two will forever be entwined for me – the images of Kiki by Man Ray are so full of love & lust!
Michel Sima -Man Ray in front of a portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse taken in the 1930s, Paris, 1954
Man Ray – Kiki allongée, 1928 (source drouot)
Man Ray – Kiki de Montparnasse in Odalisque, 1925
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- Man Ray – Kiki- 1922
Man Ray- Kiki, 1922
Man Ray- Kiki, 1925
Man Ray- Kiki, 1922
Man Ray- Kiki,1920′s
Man Ray – Kiki, 1922
Man Ray – Rayogramme kiki, nd
Man Ray – Kiki de Montparnasse (Kiki in Repose)
Man Ray -Kiki dans la chambre de la rue La Conda,nd
Man Ray- Kiki at the restaurant, 1930
Man Ray- kiki {kiki de montparnasse}, 1920
Man Ray – Kiki de Montparnasse languishing in the passenger seat of Man Ray’s Voisin 10 CV C7 c.1928
Man Ray photographie- script Kiki- 1922
Man Ray Portrait de Kiki, vintage cliché,1922
Man Ray – from the film Return to Reason (model Kiki),1923
Kiki, in Le Retour à la raison directed by Man Ray, 1923
Kiki de Montparnasse, Ca 1924 par Man Ray( source FIAC)
man Ray- Kiki de Montparnasse and friend (Youki), 1924
Kiki de Montparnasse, 1922 Man Ray
Man Ray -Kiki, 1926
Man Ray -Kiki de Montparnasse. 1926
Man Ray – Etude Kiki,1924
- Man Ray- Hier: Demain, Aujourd’hui {Kiki de Montparnasse}, 1932
Man Ray – Kiki, 1923-1924
Kiki de Montparnasse par Man Ray.1920s
La prostitution (Man Ray & Kiki de Montparnasse), 1925
Man Ray -Kiki and Lili – The Palace at 4 a.m., 1932
Man Ray- Kiki de Montparnasse ,1922
Man Ray – Kiki – 1922
Man Ray- Kiki de Montparnasse, 1922/24
Man Ray-Kiki,Paris , 1926
Man Ray – Man Ray & Kiki, plate Automne, pour le journal 1929( qui fût censuré)
Man Ray – Untitled Plate from the Film Emak Bakia,1926
Kiki, In, Emak-Bakia directed by Man Ray, 1926
Kiki In, Emak-Bakia directed by Man Ray, 1926
From L’Etoile de Mer,1928 ,directed by Man Ray
Kiki in L’étoile de mer,1928
Man Ray -L’Etoile de Mer,1928
Kiki- dear in Ballet Mecanique ,directed by Dudley Murphy & Fernand Léger, cinematography by Man Ray, 1923-1924
Kiki- In Ballet Mecanique ,directed by Dudley Murphy & Fernand Léger, cinematography by Man Ray, 1923-1924
Kiki- Plate from Ballet Mecanique ,directed by Dudley Murphy & Fernand Léger, cinematography by Man Ray, 1923-1924
Kiki- In Ballet Mecanique ,directed by Dudley Murphy & Fernand Léger, cinematography by Man Ray, 1923-1924
Man Ray- Noire et Blanche negative {model Kiki}, 1926
Man Ray ~ Noire et Blanche {model Kiki},1926
Man Ray ~ Noire et Blanche {model Kiki},1926
Man Ray ~ Noire et Blanche {model Kiki},1926
Man Ray – Noire et Blanche {model Kiki},1926
Man Ray – Kiki, 1922
Man Ray- Kiki de Montparnasse, 1920′s
Kiki de Montparnasse, art by Catel Muller & Jose-Luis Bocquet
In bohemian Montparnasse of the 1920s, Kiki escaped poverty to become one of the most charismatic figures of the avant-garde years between the wars. Partner to Man Ray, and one of the first emancipated women of the 20th century, Kiki made her mark with her freedom of style, word, and thought that could be learned from only one school—the school of life.
Winner of the Prix de la BD Fnac at the Angoulême Festival 2008.
