Valtesse de la Bigne

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edouard Manet:
Mademoiselle Lucie Delabigne
Henri Gervex:
Portrait of the Mlle V ***

Valtesse de la Bigne (actually Émilie Louise Delabigne) (* 1848 , † 1910 ) was a French actress , author and one of the most famous courtesans in Paris at the beginning of the Third Republic . She was the model for several important painters and her life served as the basis for novels for various writers.

Life

Valtesse de la Bigne, who came from Normandy , made her acting debut in the role of Hebe in Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach in 1866 . A critic described her at the time as "red-haired and shy, like a maiden of Titian ". However, she soon turned to wealthy lovers. They included a Prince Lubomirski and the Baron de Sagan. The latter financed Valtesse de la Bigne an expensive Hôtel particulier that Jules Février designed for her on the corner of Boulevard Malesherbes and Rue de la Terrasse.

In her autobiographical novel Isola , published in 1876, she described her rise to one of the richest women in Paris. Émile Zola took this novel and a visit to Valtesse de la Bigne as a template for his novel Nana . In it, Zola described her luxurious home and described in detail the magnificent bed of Valtesse de la Bigne. She donated this bed to the Musée des Arts décoratifs after her death . Valtesse de la Bigne recognized her bedroom in Chapter 10 of Nana and was annoyed by the description of the courtesan. She said that Zola would be stupid if he didn't understand that a woman needed a certain intelligence if she was to triumph. When the rumor later surfaced that she should play the leading role in the stage version of Nana , she indignantly denied this. Unlike Zola's Nana , Valtesse de la Bigne was not just a member of the Demimonde , but a highly educated woman who recited Baudelaire , Montaigne and Nietzsche in her salon . Besides Zola, her personality also inspired other authors to write literary works. The protagonists in La Nichina by Hugues Rebell and in the novel Idylle saphique by her friend Liane de Pougy can be traced back to Valtesse de la Bigne. She is also said to have a love affair with both Liane de Pougy and Émilienne d'Alençon .

Numerous young writers and artists met in their house, also known as L'Union des Artistes (artists' association). These included Édouard Manet , Henri Gervex , Édouard Detaille , Gustave Courbet , Eugène Boudin and Alphonse de Neuville . Édouard Manet made a pastel of hers that made her feel flattered. Other portraits were made by Jean-Louis Forain and Édouard Detaille. The painter Henri Gervex became her lover and portrayed her several times. In addition to the in Musée d'Orsay located Portrait of Mlle V *** was Valtesse de la Bigne also the model for the wife in his painting Le Mariage Civil (Civil marriage) that the Salle de Mariage (wedding hall) in the town hall of the 19th Arrondissement .

In old age, Valtesse de la Bigne retired to the Paris suburb of Ville-d'Avray . Here in 1901 the Villa Maison de la Chapelle du Roi was built for her , some of the interior of which was designed by Art Nouveau designer Louis Majorelle . In Ville d'Avray is also the listed grave of Valtesse de la Bigne.

literature

  • Louise Delabigne called Mlle Valtesse: Isola . Paris 1876.
  • Yolaine de la Bigne: Valtesse de la Bigne ou Le pouvoir de la volupté . Paris 1999, ISBN 2-2620-1108-7 .
  • Werner Hofmann: Nana. A scandalous figure between myth and reality . Ostfildern 2001, ISBN 3-7701-4801-0 .
  • Dorothee Hansen, Wulf Herzogenrath: Monet and Camille . Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7774-2705-5 .
  • Catherine Hewitt: The mistress of Paris, the 19th-century courtesan who built an empire on a secret . Icon Books, London 2015, ISBN 978-1-8483-1926-4 .

Web links