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Jules Pascin
French Expressionist Painter
1885 - 1930
Photograph of Jules Pascin
Julius Mordecai Pincas, known as Pascin, Jules Pascin, or the "Prince of Montparnasse", was born in Bulgaria. During World War I, he worked in the United States. He is best known as a painter in Paris, where he was strongly identified with the Modernist Movement and the artistic circles of Montparnasse. Having struggled with depression and alcoholism, he committed suicide at the age of 45.
Julius Mordecai Pincas was born in Vidin, Bulgaria, to a Sephardic Jewish family of a grain merchant Marcus Pincas. The Pincas family of grain merchants (originally from Ruse) were one of the wealthiest in Vidin; they bought and exported corn, rice, maize and sunflower. His mother, Sofie (Sophie) Pincas, belonged to a Sephardic family Russo, which had moved from Trieste to Zemun, where she and her husband lived prior to moving to Vidin and where their older children were born. The family spoke Judaeo-Spanish at home. In 1892, he moved with parents to Bucharest, where his father opened a company "Marcus Pincas and Co". His early artistic training was in Vienna and Munich. At the age of 20 in 1905, he adopted the pseudonym Pascin (an anagram of Pincas). About the same time, he began contributing drawings to Simplicissimus, a satirical magazine published in Munich.
In December 1905 Pascin moved to Paris, becoming part of the great migration of artists to that city at the start of the 20th century. In 1907 Pascin met Hermine Lionette Cartan David, also a painter, and they became lovers. They lived together until Pascin left for the United States on October 3, 1914, after the beginning of World War I. A few weeks later on October 31, Hermine David sailed for the United States to join Pascin.
Hermine in Bed by Jules Piscan
Pascin and David lived in the United States from 1914 to 1920, sitting out World War I. He taught at the Telfair Academy in Savannah, Georgia, associated with the Telfair Art Museum. He and David painted in New York City, where she had an exhibit, as well as in Miami, New Orleans and Cuba.
A Street in Cuba: 1916
Musee d'Art Moderne
A Church in Cuba: Date Unknown
(Private Collection)
Pascin married Hermine David at City Hall in New York City. The witnesses were Max Weber and Maurice Sterne, friends and painters who both lived in New York. Pascin became a naturalized United States citizen.
A Beautiful Californian: 1917
(Private Collection)
Especially after he returned to France, he became the symbol of the Montparnasse artistic community and is more associated with France than the US. Always in his bowler hat, he was a witty presence, along with his good friend Constant Detré, at Le Dôme Café, Le Jockey Club, and the other haunts of the area's bohemian society. Pascin made visits to Bulgaria in 1923/1924 and at an uncertain later date.
Cafe du Dome
Despite his social life, Pascin created thousands of watercolors and sketches, plus drawings and caricatures, which he sold to various newspapers and magazines. He studied the art of drawing at the Académie Colarossi and, like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, he drew upon his surroundings and his friends, both male and female, as subjects. He wanted to become a serious painter, but in time he became deeply depressed over his inability to achieve critical success with his efforts.
During the 1920s, Pascin mostly painted fragile petites filles, prostitutes waiting for clients, or models waiting for the sitting to end. His fleetingly rendered paintings sold readily, but the money he made was quickly spent. Famous as the host of numerous large parties in his flat, whenever he was invited elsewhere for dinner, he arrived with as many bottles of wine as he could carry. He frequently led a large group of friends on summer picnics beside the River Marne, where their excursions lasted all afternoon.
Little Girl on an Armchair: 1925
(Private Collection)
Little Girl: 1925
Art Institute of Cgicago
Little Girl: 1927
(Private Collection)
Little Girl beside a Bunch of Flowers
(Private Collection)
Cinderella: 1925-26
(Private Collection)
Brunette with Blue Necklace: 1922
(Private Collection)
Clara: 1926
(Private Collection)
According to his biographer, Georges Charensol, "Scarcely had he chosen his table at the Dôme or the Sélect than he would be surrounded by five or six friends; at nine o'clock, when we got up to dinner, we would be 20 in all, and later in the evening, when we decided to go up to Montmartre to Charlotte Gardelle's or the Princess Marfa's-where Pascin loved to take the place of the drummer in the jazz band-he had to provide for 10 taxis."
Ernest Hemingway's chapter titled "With Pascin at the Dôme", in A Moveable Feast, recounted a night in 1923 when he had stopped off at Le Dôme and met Pascin escorted by two models. Hemingway's portrayal of the evening is considered one of the defining images of Montparnasse at the time.
Pascin struggled with depression and alcoholism. "Driven to the wall by his own legend", according to art critic Gaston Diehl, he committed suicide at the age of 45 on the eve of a prestigious solo show. He slit his wrists and hanged himself in his studio in Montmartre. On the wall he left a message written in blood, to a former lover, Cecile (Lucy) Vidil Krohg. In his last will and testament, Pascin left his estate equally to his wife, Hermine David, and his mistress Lucy Krohg.
Portrait of Lucy at a Table: 1928
(Private Collection)
On the day of Pascin's funeral, June 7, 1930, thousands of acquaintances from the artistic community along with dozens of waiters and bartenders from the restaurants and saloons Pascin had frequented, all dressed in black, walked behind his coffin the three miles from his studio at 36 boulevard de Clichy to the Cimetière de Saint-Ouen. A year later, Pascin's family had his remains reinterred at the more prestigious Cimetière de Montparnasse.
Quoted From: Pascin - Wikipedia
Various Paintings, Drawinga, and Watercolors
by Jules Pascin
A Lady from Matigues: 1924
(Private Collection)
A Model Stretched Out
(Private Collection)
Alfred Flechtheim Dresses as a Toreador: 1927
Musée national d'Art Moderne Paris musée
An Oriental and his Women: 1924
(Private Collection)
Andre Salmon and Montmartre: 1921
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art (Japan)
Andree and Simone: 1923
(Private Collection)
At La Goulette: 1924
(Private Collection)
At the Edge of a Lake in Tunisia
Museum of Fine Arts - Budapest
Beautiful English Girl: 1916
Musee National d'Art Moderne - Paris
Bobette: 1928
(Private Collection)
Carmen: 1909
(Private Collection)
Clara and Genevieve: 1925
(Private Collection)
Claudine Resting: ca 1913
Art Institute of Chicago
Composition with Three Women: 1911
(Private Collection)
Cuba
(Private Collection)
Cuban Figures: 1917
(Private Collection)
Cuban Rider: 1917
(Private Collection)
Cuban Village: 1917-18
(Private Collection)
Cubans
(Private Collection)
Dancer at the Moulin Rouge: ca 1908
(Private Collection)
Eliena Krylenk: ca 1927-28
(Private Collection)
Female Nude Reclining: 1927
(Private Collection)
Feminine Nudes: ca 1909
(Private Collection)
Flora with Flowers: 1928
(Private Collection)
Georges Eisenmann: 1926
(Private Collection)
Germaine
(Private Collection)
German Painter with Dog in the Studio: 1922
(Private Collection)
Getting Dressed: 1911-12
(Private Collection)
Girls Fixing a Blond's Hair: 1916
(Private Collection)
Gossips: 1923-24
(Private Collection)
Gypsy Girl: 1923
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Gypsy with a Guitar: 1928
(Private Collection)
Gypsy Woman: ca 1923
(Private Collection)
Hammam-Life, Tunisie: 1924
(Private Collection)
Harlem
(Private Collection)
Havana Street: 1917
(Private Collection)
Head of a Young Woman
(Private Collection)
Hermine: 1919
(Private Collection)
Hermine David: 1915
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Hermine David and Friend: 1914
(Private Collection)
Hermine David at the Table: 1918
(Private Collection)
Hermine David Indoors
(Private Collection)
Hermine David Reading: ca 1908
(Private Collection)
Hermine in a Black Hat: 1909
(Private Collection)
Hermine in a Blue Hat: 1918
(Private Collection)
Hermine in a Red Blouse: 1909
(Private Collection)
Hermine on a Chair: 1918
(Private Collection)
Hermine Reading: 1917
(Private Collection)
Hermine with Fruit: 1919
(Private Collection)
Horse and Carriage: 1917
(Private Collection)
In a Hotel Room: 1908
(Private Collection)
In the Harbor of Marseille: 1920
(Private Collection)
Interior Scene: ca 1910
(Private Collection)
Italian Girl, Seated: 1912
Musée d'Art Moderne - Paris
La salle de fete
(Private Collection)
Lady on a Sofa: ca 1925
(Private Collection)
Lady Wearing a Turban: 1907
(Private Collection)
Le nu de Lysis: 1925
(Private Collection)
Little Girl in a White Shirt: 1929
(Private Collection)
Little Girl with a Bouquet: 1925
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art - Sapporo
Little Girl with a Hat: 1924
(Private Collection)
Little Girl with a White Ribbon: 1928
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art - Sapporo
Little Italian Girl: 1909
(Private Collection)
Little Lysis: 1925
(Private Collection)
Little Nana from Cassis: 1925
(Private Collection)
Looking for Lice: 1924
(Private Collection)
Loose Women: ca 1911
(Private Collection)
Lucy after Shampooing: 1926
(Private Collection)
Lucy with a Fur Piece: 1927
(Private Collection)
Man in an Armchair: 1912
(Private Collection)
Margot and Madeleine
(Private Collection)
Men, Women and Children
(Private Collection)
Model in a Pink Slip: 1926
(Private Collection)
Model on a Stool
(Private Collection)
Mrieille: 1930
Musée d'Art Moderne - Paris
Mulatress Fixing a Blond's Hair: 1916
(Private Collection)
Mulatto with Bowler Hat: 1930
(Private Collection)
No Title: 1925
(Private Collection)
Nude, Arm Raised: 1916
(Private Collection)
Nude: 1923
(Private Collection)
Nude before a Mirror: 1909
(Private Collection)
Nude in an Armchair: 1912
(Private Collection)
Nude in an Armchair: 1927
(Private Collection)
Nude in Front of a Mirror
(Private Collection)
Nude Sleeping: 1928
(Private Collection)
Nude with a Green Hat: ca 1925
Cincinnati Art Museum
Nude with Black Stockings
(Private Collection)
Nude with Drapery: 1914
(Private Collection)
Nude Women: ca 1921-23
(Private Collection)
Odd Couple in a Waiting Room: 1907-08
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Outside the Church
(Private Collection)
Portrait of a Girl: 1924-25
(Private Collection)
Portrait of a Woman of the House on the Rue d' Amboise: 1918
(Private Collection)
Portrait of Hermine David: 1908-10
(Private Collection)
Portrait of Hermine David: 1918
Musée d'Art Moderne - Paris
Portrait of Hermine David
(Private Collection)
Portrait of Jean Oberle: 1924
(Private Collection)
Portrait of Lucy Krohg: ca 1925
(Private Collection)
Portrait of Mimi Laurent: ca 1927-28
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Portrait of Pierre MacOrlan: 1924
(Private Collection)
Portrait of William Howard: 1909
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Princess Ghika
(Private Collection)
Raymonde from the Back: 1929
(Private Collection)
Rebecca Lying Down: 1927
(Private Collection)
Reclining Woman
(Private Collection)
Rita Barber: 1923
(Private Collection)
Rosette and Nana: 1923
(Private Collection)
Salome
(Private Collection)
Scene du village
(Private Collection)
Scene from the Southern States: 1917
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Seaport
Museum of Fine Arts - Budapest
Seated Girl: 1914
Location - Unknown
Seated Girl: 1927
(Private Collection)
Seated Little Girl: 1911
(Private Collection)
Seated Model: 1928
(Private Collection)
Seated Nude: ca 1923
(Private Collection)
Seated Nude with Black Stockings: ca 1906
(Private Collection)
Seated Nude with Blue Slippers: 1928
(Private Collection)
Seated Portrait of Hermine David
(Private Collection)
Seated Woman: 1925-26
(Private Collection)
Seated Woman: 1927-28
(Private Collection)
Seated Woman: ca 1918
(Private Collection)
Seated Woman: 1928
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art - Sapporo
Seated Young Girl: 1914
(Private Collection)
Seated Young Girl: 1923-24
(Private Collection)
Seated Young Girl: 1929
(Private Collection)
Seated Young Girl
(Private Collection)
Siesta: 1913
(Private Collection)
Simone d' Alal: 1924
(Private Collection)
Sleeping Woman:
(Private Collection)
Standing Nude
(Private Collection)
Still Life with Fruit: 1916
(Private Collection)
The Brigands: 1916
(Private Collection)
The Brown Persian: 1923-24
(Private Collection)
The Circus: 1910
(Private Collection)
The Evening Dress: 1924
(Private Collection)
The Good Samaritans: 1917
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art - Sapporo
The Horses Market: 1918
(Private Collection)
The Large Marcelle: ca 1923
(Private Collection)
The Persian Princess: 1923-24
(Private Collection)
The Temptation of Saint Anthony: ca 1911-12
(Private Collection)
The Turkish Family: 1907
(Private Collection)
The Vase of Flowers: 1918
(Private Collection)
The-Lounger: 1909
(Private Collection)
Three Girls in a Boat
(Private Collection)
Three Nudes: 1909
(Private Collection)
Two Creoles: 1917
Musée d'Art Moderne - Paris
Two Friends: 1928
(Private Collection)
Two Friends
(Private Collection)
Two Girls: 1907
Musée national d'Art Moderne Paris musée
Two Girls on the Ground: ca 1906-09
(Private Collection)
Two Nudes: 1924
(Private Collection)
Two Nudes
(Private Collection)
Two Reclining Nudes: 1927
(Private Collection)
Two Small Girls: 1908
(Private Collection)
Two Young Women: ca 1927-29
(Private Collection)
Village Fair
(Private Collection)
Village Scene
(Private Collection)
Woman and Children in the Orient
(Private Collection)
Woman in Red: 1928
(Private Collection)
Woman Lying Down with her Arms Raised: 1907
(Private Collection)
Woman on a Divan
(Private Collection)
Woman on a Sofa: ca 1926-27
(Private Collection)
Woman Seated in an Armchair: 1926
(Private Collection)
Woman Sitting: 1921
(Private Collection)
Woman Washing Herself
(Private Collection)
Woman Wearing White Pantaloons: 1909
(Private Collection)
Woman with a Bouquet: 1927
(Private Collection)
Woman with a Parasol
(Private Collection)
Woman with Hat
(Private Collection)
Women in the Park: 1917
(Private Collection)
Women Washing the Floor
(Private Collection)
Young Blacks in Cuba: ca 1917-18
(Private Collection)
Young Boy: 1922
(Private Collection)
Young English Woman: 1926
(Private Collection)
Young Girl in a Dress
(Private Collection)
Young Girl in Red: ca 1911-12
(Private Collection)
Young Girl Reclining: 1914
(Private Collection)
Young Girl Seated: ca 1921-22
(Private Collection)
Young Girl Standing: ca 1923
(Private Collection)
Young Girl with a Doll: ca 1924-26
(Private Collection)
Young Marcelle: 1928
(Private Collection)
Young Woman in a White Chemise
(Private Collection)
Young Woman Putting on her Socks: ca 1916
(Private Collection)
Young Woman Seated: Date Unknown
(Private Collection)
Young Woman with a Little Dog: ca 1926
(Private Collection)
Zimette and Mirel: 1930
(Private Collection)
Zinah with Flowers: 1929
(Private Collection)
Related Source Material:
Jules Pascin - Athenaeum.org
Jules Pascin Online
Jules Pascin: Works on Paper
Artist - Born Julius Pincas in Bulgaria, he moved to Paris in 1905. He lived in the United States during World War I and became an American citizen in 1920, but returned to Paris later that year. There he personified the bohemian image of the loose-living, dissolute artist. Specializing in nudes, he mitigated their often erotic nature with soft lines and subtle colors; George Grosz called them "elegant little obscenities". Pascin enjoyed great success on both sides of the Atlantic during the 1920s, but after the 1929 Wall Street crash his popularity seemed to vanish overnight. Depressed over a troubled love affair and increasingly hostile reviews of his work, he hanged himself in his Montmartre studio. Ernest Hemingway devoted a chapter of his book "A Moveable Feast" to Pascin.
Bio by: Bob Edwards
Quoted From: Jules Pascin (1885 - 1930) - Find A Grave Memorial
Reclining Girl: 1921
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Collections
Siesta: 1912
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Collections
The Foolish Virgins: ca 1909
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Collections
Seated Model: 1925
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Collections
Jules Pascin's work at times throws up challenges to even the amateur to provide a fair as well as a critical interpretation of the varied genre of his art work. What confounds many that as a painter he is able to depict a young girl as chaste and innocent and then also to depict a young girl with barely any clothes and also others in very suggestive and sexual poses (Siesta: 1912 from the Metropolitan Museum of Art being a good example of such a drawing or painting). It is easy to refer such art as a reflection of the bohemian, dissolute life-style of artistic Paris. Such painters as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Amedeo Modigliani are painters who faced the same challenges and similar tragedies that Pascin did. When George Grosz refers to Pascin's erotic art as his "elegant little obscenities", I am not sure whether he is being pejoritive or simply dismissing his art. I have become to believe that if art is going to be honest, as I think it should, it has a responsibility to reflect society as it is or was not some ideal we wish it were or had been. I would leave you with another thought. Eroticism is a legitimate genre for artistic expression and we make a serious mistake if we listen to those who attempt to equate eroticism with pornography because there is a great deal of difference between the two.
~ Senex
This page is the work of Senex Magister
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