| PASCIN, JULES (JULIUS MORDECAI PINCAS) (Widdin, Bulgaria, 1885 - Paris, 1930) . Jules Pascin: One of the most famous erotic artists of the early twentieth century, Jules Pascin actually spent much of his youth at a local bordello where he was cared for by the Madame. At the age of seventeen he traveled to Berlin, Vienna and Munich and began supporting himself by selling drawings to leading German periodicals. In particular, his illustrations for the satirical magazine, Simplicissimus, gained him both an early and strong reputation throughout Europe.
Pascin moved to Paris in 1905 and immediately became a leading figure among the artists of Montmartre, along with Modigliani, Soutine and Chagall. Pascin painted portraits and large historical canvases, but his reputation was based almost entirely upon his erotically charged depictions of the female nude in pastel, conte and etching. Many scholars have compared his erotic art to that of Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas.
During the First World War, Jules Pascin moved to America and resided there (mostly in New York) for a period of ten years. During that time he taught and influenced a number of American artists, most notably Emil Ganso |
