ByMaryBlume

    Published:SATURDAY,JUNE12,1999

    PARIS:Bythe1920s,Montparnassewassofamousthatonecould,itwassaid,buyadirectticketfromDesMoines,Iowa,totheCaféduDome.ThequartersamplehubwasKiki,theartistsmodelandgood-timegirlwhowas,ErHemingwaywrote,"aboutascloseaspeoplegetnowadaystobeingaQueenbutthat,ofcourse,isverydifferentfrombeingalady."

    HemingwayswordsefromhisprefacetoKikismemoirs,writtenin1929whenshewasjust28.Thereisclearlysomethingtobesaidforwritingmemoirswhenyoung:alongwithKikis,theliveliestevocationoftheperiodisJohnGlasscos"MemoirsofMontparnasse,"pletedwhenhewas23andthought,wrongly,thathewasdyingfromtuberculosis."ThecelebratedKiki"wasohefirstlocalshemet.

    "Hermaquillagewasaworkofartinitself…hermouthpaintedadeepscarletthatemphasizedtheslyerotichumorofitstours,"Glasscowrote."HerfacewasbeautifulfromeveryaIlikeditbestinfullprofile,whenithadthelinealpurityofastuffedsalmon."

    KikiaintedbySoutine,Modigliani,FoujitaandKislingandmostfamouslyphotographedbyManRay,whoselovershewasfhtstormyyears.Shesangbawdysongsinnightclubs,showedhernaivepaintingsatwhatthePariseditionoftheChicagoTribunecalled"themostsuccessfulvernissageoftheyear,"andin1929wasnamedQueenofMontparnasse.

    ThememoirsshewrotethatyearwererepublishedthisspringinParisbyHazan(anAmerieditiolastyear)inarichlyillustratededitionpiledbyBillyKluver,whowasastudentinPariswhenKikidiedin1953andrememberstheneicturesofFoujitaandotherartistsgat