Expressionism - V 

Moses Kisling (born Mojżesz Kisling; 22 January 1891 – 29 April 1953) was a Polish-born French painter. He moved to Paris in 1910 at the age of 19, and became a French citizen in 1915, after serving and being wounded with the French Foreign Legion in World War I. He emigrated to the United States in 1940, after the fall of France, and returned there in 1946.

Born in Kraków, Austria-Hungary on 22 January 1891 to Jewish Parents. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow with Jozef Pankiewicz. His teachers encouraged the young man to go to Paris, France, considered the international center for artistic creativity in the early 20th century. In 1910, Kisling moved to Montmartre in Paris initially living on Rue des Beaux-Arts, and a few years later to Montparnasse.

At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for service in the French Foreign Legion. After being seriously wounded in 1916 in the Battle of the Somme, he was awarded French citizenship.
 

He married Renée Kisling (née Gros) in 1916, and together they had two sons, Jean (1922) and Guy Kisling (1922)

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Kisling lived and worked in Montparnasse and as part of its renowned artistic community, he joined an émigré community of Americans, British and Eastern European artists. Most of the French kept to themselves, although the artistic community was international.

He became close friends with many of his contemporaries, including Amedeo Modigliani, who painted a portrait of him in 1916 (in the collection of the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris). His style in painting landscapes is similar to that of Marc Chagall. A master at depicting the female body, his surreal nudes and portraits earned him the widest acclaim.

Kisling volunteered for army service again in 1940 during World War II, although he was 49. When the French Army was discharged after the surrender to the Germans, Kisling emigrated to the United States. He rightly feared for his safety as a Jew in occupied France. He exhibited in New York City and Washington. He settled in Southern California, and had his first art exhibition there in 1942. The Kisling family lived next door to Aldous Huxley and his family in Southern California, where they stayed there until 1946.

Under the Vichy government, certain critics suggested too many foreigners, especially Jews, were diminishing French traditions. Their comments were part of a rise in anti-Semitism during the German occupation, resulting in French cooperation in the deportation and deaths of tens of thousands of foreign and French Jews in concentration camps. Kisling returned to France after the war and defeat of Germany.

Moïse Kisling died at his house in Bandol, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France on 29 April 1953. He had been ill with stomach issues for ten days, prior to his death.