Kiki et Son Ami Accordioniste à Montparnasse
Brassaï French, born Romania (Transylvania)
Not on view
In his memoir The Secret Paris of the 30's, Brassaï wrote of his nocturnal photographic journeys among the demimonde at night: prostitutes, opium addicts, vagabonds, street toughs, and bohemians such as Kiki of Montparnasse, pictured here with her accompanist at the Cabaret des Fleurs. Born Alice Prin, Kiki was a favorite model of the School of Paris painters, muse and lover of Man Ray, actress in avant-garde films such as Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy's Ballet Mécanique, libertine, and renowned wit. Brassaï devoted an entire chapter of his memoirs to Kiki, who serves in his narrative as the personification of the city at night.
