Thursday, November 10, 2011

la femmes de man ray - alice prin/kiki de montparnasse

noir et blanche, 1926


1926




1922


kiki en odalisque, ca. 1925


1926


1922


la prostitution (man ray & kiki de montparnasse), 1925


le violon d'ingres, 1924

all photographs by man ray.


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!

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