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Kiki de Montparnasse or just Kiki was the stage
name for Alice Ernestine Prin (1901 – 1953),
a nightclub singer, actor|actress, model, and
painter.

==Biography and art==

Born in Chatillon-sur-Seine, Côte d'Or, Burgundy,
France on October 2, 1901. An illegitimate child,
she was raised in abject poverty by her
grandmother. At age 12 she was sent to Paris to be
educated and by age 14 she was posing nude for
sculptors.



Alice Prin became a popular artists' model. Man
Ray made numerous photographs of her, and Moise
Kisling painted a portrait titled, Nu assis. 

The symbol of Bohemianism|bohemian and creative
Paris, at age 28 she was declared
Montparnasse|Queen of Montparnasse.  Her music
hall performances in black hose and garters
included crowd-pleasing raunchy songs, which were
both uninhibited yet inoffensive. She also had
roles in nine films, including Fernand
Leger|Fernand Leger's famous Ballet mécanique. 

She was the mistress of Man Ray, and a friend of
Chaim Soutine, Jean Cocteau, Max Ernst and other
artists.

Ernest Hemingway and Tsuguharu Foujita provided
the introduction for her 1929 memoirs. The book
was published the following year in New York City
by Black Manikin Press but banned by the United
States government. Kiki's Memoirs remained barred
in the United States as late as the 1970s when it
was still held in the section for banned books in
the New York Public Library. Finally, in 1996, her
book was translated into English and published.

A capable painter in her own right, in 1927 Paris'
Galerie au Sacre du Printemps held a sold-out
exhibition of Kiki's paintings. Her drawings and
paintings comprise portraits and dreamy landscapes
composed in a light, slightly uneven expressionist
style that is a reflection of her easy-going
manner and boundless optimism.

Even during difficult times, she maintained her
positive attitude saying, All I need is an onion,
a bit of bread, and a bottle of red (wine); and I
will always find somebody to offer me that.

When she died, a large crowd of artists and fans
attended her funeral. Foujita said that with Kiki,
they buried forever the glorious days of
Montparnasse.

Long after her death, Kiki remains the embodiment
of the outspokenness, audacity, and creativity
that marked this period of Montparnasse. A daylily
is named in her honor, Kiki De Montparnasse.

==Books about Kiki==
*Kiki's Memoirs (translation by Samuel Putnam) -
Kiki (1996)
*Kiki: Reine de la Montparnasse - Lou Mollgaard
(In French - 1988)