Chapter 48 II Departure from Montparnasse to join the war (2) Paris-Nice

In Nice, 120 kilometers from Paris, everyone went down to the wine cellar, opened the champagne and drank it, and joked while drinking.It was more lively than in Paris that night. Max Jacobs In the spring of 1918, the whole of Paris was suffering from hunger and cold, unable to sleep.People with empty bellies have no interest in going to concerts, theaters, or movies.Max Jacobs wrote poems on wrappers, but he can still find cigars for Picasso.At night, some people roam the streets, waiting for the few drinkers to leave, and then search for all the bottles they can find, or go to some hidden places on foot or by car to drink up the leftovers in one gulp, Temporarily cope with their rumbling hunger.The cars were crawling slowly, and when the occupants aimed at a place and wanted to get off, the cars left the road and stopped on the side of the road.Crowds of people sometimes flock here, sometimes there, or a bakery on the Rue Kate, or the backyard of a large shopping mall on the right bank of the Seine. Wherever there is food and drink for everyone, everyone runs there together.

After two years of defensive warfare, in March 1918, the Germans began a massive attack on the French and British lines.The defense line was breached. Marshal Foch once vowed that France would not retreat a single step. Clemenceau also encouraged the soldiers to pay any price, including their lives, and never give up an inch of land to the enemy.All this is in vain, the enemy is only 70 kilometers away from Paris.At night, the Germans' long-range artillery, the Berta, roared.This is a 30-meter-long cannon transported on rails. It can fire shells at a height of 30 kilometers and a maximum range of 100 kilometers.Grenell and Vaugirard in France, St. Gervais Church in the Mont Blanc Mountains, and Place de la Mas in Paris were all bombed by it.One of its shells landed on the Rue de Lyon-Court in Paris, and another exploded in Port Royal, killing several children and their mothers in a kindergarten.This cannon is scary and frightening. Half a million Parisians fled the capital for refuge in the south.Among them are Soutine, Fujita, Sandras, Kisling, Modigliani and Jeanne, Sporowski and his wife.

On the one hand, they left Paris to avoid the enemy's bombing, and on the other hand, they also hoped that the sunshine in Nice would be beneficial to the health of Modigliani and Jeanne.Because Amdo's lung disease is getting worse, and Jeanna is pregnant, and urgently needs sufficient sunshine.As soon as Jeanne's mother heard the news, she immediately decided that she would go with her.The reason is that she must not throw her daughter to an ill-bred, irresponsible, and very incompetent Jewish painter. Modigliani took the mother and daughter to Nice.But they who had lived in harmony suddenly turned their faces, the future father was forced to live in a hotel, and Jeanne and her daughter settled down in an apartment suite on Rue Masséna.

Modigliani lived in the South for nearly two years.The sunshine of Nice was good for his ailments, and it was impossible for him to dream of returning to Paris, since all his papers had been stolen.He painted prolifically and often binge-drinked with his new friends there.These friends of his were Sylvage, the sculptor Alcipenco, Paul Guillaume, and the painter Osterland. One day, Osterland led Modigliani to Renoir's house.Renoir suffered from severe rheumatism and was unable to move in a wheelchair, so he had to tie his brush to his hand to paint, relying on a balance pendant to move the canvas up and down.However, he worked tirelessly every day with the aim of producing as many paintings as possible before he died, and also for the benefit of the orphaned children around him.He also received several other friends, such as the famous painter Monet who came to see him for the last time.He was paralyzed in a wheelchair and couldn't move, but he wanted to smoke, and the 80-year-old Monet put it on his mouth and lit it for him.And the first sentence Renoir received his friend Monet was: "Hey, Monet, your eyesight seems to have declined, isn't it?"

Renoir often received young artists, so he received Modigliani.Renoir tried to talk to him, but the Italian refused to speak.Renoir suggested: "Then go and see my nude paintings." Amdo Modigliani and Ostland went to Renoir's studio.Italians scrutinized each painting carefully without commenting.When he returned to Renoir, he still did not speak. "How is it?" Osterland said.Amdo remained inexplicably silent. "Have you noticed the color of your skin?" Still silent. "What about the line on the breast?" Not a word. "What about the buttocks? When I draw them, it's like I'm touching them..."

Modigliani stood up suddenly, looked at the old painter, and said dryly: "I, I don't like buttocks." Then he left, leaving Renoir at a loss, and Austerland ashamed flushed. He found Sporowski, who still lived in rotation at luxury hotels all day long.Later he returned to Paris because he understood that Modigliani was as difficult to succeed here as elsewhere, and that the idle rich people in the south did not buy more than the art dealers in Paris. In Paris, Apollinaire was discharged from the hospital.He left the Bureau of Censorship and went to the Colonial Office. On May 2, he married Jacqueline Kolb.The religious service was held at the Church of San Tomadagan.The bride's witnesses were Ambroise Vollard and Gabriel Biffet-Picabia, and the groom's witnesses were Lucien de Cave and Pablo Picasso.

Two months later, Picasso finally cleared the barriers of Olga's parents, Gabi and Irena Lagut, and Olga Cocrova agreed to marry him.But Diaghilev reminded Picasso: things are not that simple. Olga is a Russian girl, and her certificate does not meet the requirements, and Russia is in a period of revolutionary chaos, and it is difficult to complete the legal procedures for a while.Apollinaire entrusted his younger brother Lucien Dekave, who worked in the city police station, to help. He took advantage of the relationship and walked through the back door before the marriage formalities were completed.The wedding ceremony was scheduled to take place on July 12, 1918, in the district government of the seventh arrondissement of Paris.When Max Jacob received a letter from Picasso choosing him as best man, he was so happy that he passed out.Especially since it happened to be his birthday... Max Jacob immediately ran to the house of Lyteria, where the family of the future bride lived, but he did not see the bride, and then he went to the Rue de la Red Hill, where Picasso still lived, and also did not see the bride to the groom.So he sent an ecstatic express letter to Picasso:

Dear, Only death can prevent me from arriving at District Seven District Office on time at 11 o'clock on Friday. If I fail to attend your wedding, I will die of regret. At 11 o'clock in the morning, he arrived on time. Pablo Picasso, a painting artist born in Malaga, Spain on October 25, 1881, married Olga Kokorova, who was born in Niekina, Russia on June 17, 1891, and had no fixed occupation.Best men: Guillaume Apollinaire, 37, author and War Cross winner; Max Jacobs, 42, author; Valerian Ilceko Sworoff, 54 , cavalry captain; Jean Cocteau, 27, writer. The religious wedding was held amidst thick incense and elegant Orthodox chants in the Russian Church on Daru Street.

A few weeks later, Picasso moved into the Lytelia mansion where his wife's family lived (Fig. 55). In November 1918, the war was coming to an end. On the afternoon of the 9th, while Picasso was walking under the arcades of Rue de Rivoli, he met a widow whose husband had been killed by the war.A gust of wind blew the widow's black veil onto Picasso's face.At night, after returning to the mansion, Picasso stood in front of a mirror and looked at his face for a long time.The events of the afternoon overwhelmed him, and he saw something ominous in his face.He took a pencil and drew the face he saw in the mirror.At this moment, the phone rang.He put down his paintbrush and picked up the phone.After putting down the phone, he stood there for a long time without moving.Then, he turned around and walked to the self-portrait.

What he had just learned was the bad news of the death of Guillaume Apollinaire.