Artist: Jules Pascin

oil on canvas Circa 1921 ( some small paint scratchs but in very good condtion for the age)

21.5" X 16"

signed top right corner

Title on the verso "Lucy" Provenance: Private collection West Palm Beach. Jules Pascin was a Bulgarian-born French Expressionist painter. Known under the pseudonym of the “Prince of Montparnasse,” Pascin mainly painted women, often nude or in stages of undress, in a fleeting, gestural aesthetic akin to the movements of Fauvism or Cubism. Born in Vidin, Bulgaria on March 31, 1885 to an affluent Sephardic Jewish family, he was educated in Austria and Germany before moving to Paris in 1905. There, he quickly found artistic popularity and became associated with the Modernist movement. He regularly exhibited prints and drawings in various important Parisian salons, including the Salon des Indépendants and satellite exhibitions of the Berlin Secession. Despite achieving success in Europe and North America—Pascin became a naturalized US citizen with the help of Alfred Stieglitz in 1920—he never achieved the critical discourse he craved. Eventually succumbing to depression and alcoholism, he took his own life on the eve of an important solo show on June 5, 1930 at the age of 45. Pascin’s work was appreciated throughout his life and beyond, marked by such achievements as his inclusion in the notorious 1913 Armory Show in New York. Today, his work can be found in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Louvre in Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago, and others. September 25, 1918, Pascin marries Hermine. On September 30, 1920, Pascin becomes an American citizen, and in October the married couple returns to Paris. They get quickly integrated in Paris life, even though the German artists are already gone from there. He meets by chance Cecile (Lucy) Vidil, a model with whom he had a brief affair in the fall of 1910, and his feelings re-kindle. By that time Lucy had already married the Norwegian artist Per Krogh and had a three-year-old son. Pascin bends over backwards for the two families to become friends so as to spend more time with Lucy. In the spring of 1921 they resume their love affair, although Lucy tried her best to save her marriage. The Kroghs go to Norway for the summer, and the Pascins to Tunisia. When they return in the fall of 1921, Jules and Hermine break up. Pascin continues to assail Lucy with letters, threatening her to commit suicide and to start drinking. Lucy leads a double life, taking care of her home and the child in the morning and evening and spending the rest of the time with Pascin. In 1924 Per Krogh installed a separate household for himself and their son, yet Lucy did not move in with Pascin.

Pascin was the heart of Montparnasse art life. On Saturdays and special occasions he hosted parties in his spacious studio, where guests stayed up late into the night. Twenty people or so would come to dinner. He also organized summer picnics for artists by the River Marne, which were hugely popular. In general, when not working at his studio, Pascin enjoyed being surrounded by a lot of people. He also staged merry celebrations for his friends’ children. Surprisingly, he continued to be friends with both Per Krogh and Hermine, who took an active part in his undertakings. He supported Hermine morally and materially till his last days.

By the mid-1920s Pascin had become famous. The well-known American collector Albert Barnes bought his works for his museum. Galérie Pierre Loeb opens with a solo exhibition of Pascin. He regularly exhibits together with Braque, Legér, Derain, Miró, Soutine, Utrillo and Picasso. Lucy begins to sell his works to Galérie Bernheim-Jeune. She was very helpful, finding premises for studios and contracting models to sit for Pascin. Lucy understood him well both as an artist and a person. Their closeness is especially felt in Pascin’s letters to Lucy, in which he described in detail the events of his life, passed judgments and characterized people he came into contact. Like no other she was aware of the futility of attempts to change his life by curbing his promiscuity, putting an end to his drinking and having normal family relations. Lucy limited his communication with her son and decided to have no children by Pascin.

very good for the age of the paintiong