Some pretty vixens: The ‘Parisiennes’ by Kiraz

Most Parisian museums in the French capital present only the first retrospective dedicated to artist Kiraz. Edmond Kiraz is the father of the ‘Parisiennes’, the skinny characters with impish little faces whom gave Kiraz his fame and fortune.

Without title
Original Gouache published in Elle n°3000, 30 June 2003
34 x 24,5 cm — The artist's collection

Recently, the Carnavet museum have traced the work of sixty years throughout a chronological journey that is portrayed through around a hundred original gouaches. The exhibition brings together some of Kiraz's artwork for press, advertising and fashion as well as including a few oil paintings.
‘Kiraz’ (Edmond Kirazian being his real name) did not begin his career observing and recreating these seductive young ladies. He was born in 1923 in Cairo and started by publishing political cartoons in newspapers edited in Egypt. He arrived in Paris in 1946 and created his first feminine figures in the early fifties. From 1959 to 1987, Marcel Dassault offered him a double page in his publication called Jours de France: the birth place of the ‘Parisiennes’. These creatures with long legs and huge eyes were elegant, liberated and mischievous. The artwork was naive, colourful, simple and refined, bringing almost immediate success. Kiraz also worked on several advertising campaigns, most notably for Perrier and the Scandale lingerie, then Renault, Parker and Nivea, whom used Kiraz and his ‘Parisiennes’, and even manufactured a doll. In 2001, Vogue Nippon August used the gouaches for a special issue dedicated to ‘Luxury Brands’. The collaboration between Kiraz and Canderel was the longest (1995-2000) and the most successful, with the famous caption: “You can wear elephant' pants without being one”.

My poor husband! He has just got used to
my figure that I have just changed.
Original Gouache published in
Gala, October 1999
37 x 29 cm — The artist's collection

Later, Kiraz's gouaches reappeared in many places, in particular in Gala, but also in the foreign press, where the provocative attitude of the ‘Parisiennes’ seduced all. Hugh Hefner, CCO of Playboy Enterprises and Editor in Chief of Playboy Magazine has given Kiraz a page in his magazine every month, for more than thirty years. The exhibition shows a dozen of these gouaches, as well as a few of Kiraz's paintings of which the quality is unfortunately not as close to his talent as a cartoonist.

The captions that accompany Kiraz's drawings are just as humorous and engaging as the artwork itself, encompassing the complete ‘Parisiennes’ spirit. The captions are sometimes lucid and honest: (to a life-guard) “You saved my life and I would like to save yours: do not marry me!”, sometimes venal: “Andre, It is simply a coincidence: our love and our yacht sunk at the same time.”, obsessed by their figure: “Mum, a friend who is a model is having dinner with us tonight, can you add a leaf of salad?”, futile, frivolous and shopping mad: (to a policeman) “I never take my vehicle registration certificate (grey card in French) with my rose outfit!”, gently impertinent and man hungry: “There are many types of woman inside me. How do you want me to be satisfied with only one man?”, and always spicy: “I am very chaste: my husband has never seen me naked... except on the beach.”, both dreamy and down-to-earth: “I would like to find a rich man that I would not marry for his money.”

I do not want to disturb you, Angèle: I am looking for my diary.
Original Gouache published in Gala, June 1997
33 x 26,5 cm — The artist's collection

Modern and timeless, with a touch of cynism, in newspaper or museum, the ‘Parisiennes’ are always appealing.

The exhibition runs until the 21st September 2008
Musée Carnavalet
23 rue de Sévigné – 75003 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 59 58 58
Open every day from 10am to 6pm except Mondays and Bank Holidays
www.carnavalet.paris.fr