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La Revue Blanche, Misia, the Natansons “One of the leading Paris avant-garde print organs, La Revue Blanche, was run by Thadée Natanson, who hailed from a prominent banking family. His wife Misia was also active in the magazine and in maintaining the constant political and artistic conversation that took place around the magazine...
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TRANSMISSION 50 CONTENTS :The Luncheon on the Grass at Natanson’s 1
WEEKLY TRANSMISSION N°50 THURSDAY 17 DECEMBER 2015
THE MUSE COLLECTORS OF GENIUSES: MISIA SERT
Misia as a cover of the La Revue Blanche designed by Toulouse-Lautrec.
The e-bulletin presents a selection of books, albums, photographs and ancient documents as they have been handed down to the actual owners
by their creators and by amateurs from past generations.
The physical descriptions, attributions, origins, and printing datesof the books and photographs have been carefully ascertained by collations
and through close analysis of comparable works.
The books and photographs consigned from all around the world are presented in chronological order. It is the privilege of ancient and authentic things to be presented in this fashion, mirroring the flow of ideas and creations. Payment in euros, Paypal is accepted.
N°50 : Misia Sert
Archivial document
La Revue Blanche, Misia, the Natansons
“One of the leading Paris avant-garde print organs, La Revue Blanche, was run byThadée Natanson, who hailed from a prominent banking family. His wife Misia was also activein the magazine and in maintaining the constant political and artistic conversation that tookplace around the magazine...
At age 21, Misia Sert had married twenty-year-old Thadée Natanson, a Polish émigré.Natanson frequented the haunts favored by the artistic and intellectual circles of Paris. Hebecame involved in political causes, championing the ideals of socialism, which he sharedwith his friend Leon Blum, and was a Dreyfusard. The Natanson home on the Rue St.Florentine became a gathering place, for such cultural lights as Marcel Proust, Claude Monet,Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Odilon Redon, Paul Signac, Claude Debussy, Stéphane Mallarmé, andAndré Gide. The entertainment was lavish. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec enjoyed playingbartender at Natanson's parties, and became known for serving a potent cocktail— a drinkof colorful layered liqueurs dubbed the Pousse-Café. All were mesmerized by the charm andyouth of their hostess. In 1889, Natanson debuted La Revue blanche, a periodical committedto nurturing new talent and showcasing the work of the post-Impressionists, Les Nabis. Sertbecame the muse and symbol of La Revue blanche, appearing in advertising posters createdby Toulouse-Lautrec, Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard. A portrait of Sert by Renoir is nowin the Tate Gallery. Marcel Proust used Sert as the prototype for the characters of "PrincessYourbeletieff" and "Madame Verdurin" in his roman à clef, Remembrance of Things Past.
Natanson’s La Revue blanche coupled with his political activism required an influx ofcapital, which he alone was unable to supply. Needing a benefactor, he approached AlfredEdwards, a newspaper magnate, the founder of the foremost newspaper in Paris, Le Matin.Edwards had become enamored with Sert and had taken her as his mistress in 1903. He wouldsupply money, but only on the condition that Natanson relinquish his wife to him.
On February 24, 1905, Sert became the wife of Alfred Edwards. Sert and her newhusband took up an opulent lifestyle in their apartment on Rue de Rivoli, overlooking theTuileries Palace. Here Sert continued welcoming artists, writers, and musicians in her home.Maurice Ravel dedicated Le Cygne (The Swan) in "Histoires naturelles" and La Valse (TheWaltz) to her. Sert accompanied Enrico Caruso on the piano while the opera star entertainedthe assembled listeners with a repertory of Neapolitan songs. Edwards proved an unfaithfulhusband, and Sert divorced him in 1909. In 1914 Sert married her third husband, Spanishpainter Josep Maria Sert. This period began her reign and fame as cultural arbiter, which lastedmore than thirty years. Writer Paul Morand described her as a "collector of geniuses, all ofthem in love with her."”
Vuillard & Alfred Natanson preparing cameras, Le Relais, Misia & Thadée Natanson’s villa
Archivial document
Weekly Transmission 49 1 10 December 2015
(attr.) ALFRED NATANSON (1873-1932). The Luncheon on the Grass at Natanson’s, 1898.
Vintage silver print, 129x179 mm, annotations in pencil, verso: “Villeneuve sur Yonne, ThadéeNatanson, Misia”. 3.000 euros
Number Fifty of the Weekly Transmission has been uploaded on Thursday, 17th December at 15:15 (Paris time).
Upcoming uploads and transmissions on Thursdays : Thursday 24th December, Thursday 31st December, 15:15 (Paris time).
Phone (10 am-5 pm) : (+33) 6.50.85.60.74
A Major contribution for Photography Collecting :
Marc Durand. De l’image fixe à l’image animée(1820-1910)[From the Still to the Moving Image.The Minutier Central of Notaries of Paris and theHistory of Photography in Paris. A 2015 NationalArchives Publication made from the analysis of5109 selected acts.
Conceived as a dictionary, ordered by names ofpeople, this book presents documents quoting theworld of photography and related activities, sincethe late 18th century to the early 20th centuries.
Marc Durand conducted since 1998 its researchnot only in the Minutier central but also withinother funds, the National Archives, the Archives ofParis and many departments.
Biographical notes and descriptions of acts ofsupplements are found only on the paper versionof the book.
Two volumes 4° totalling 1323 pages, weight; 14 lbs, price: 80 euros plus postage andpackaging (caution, the French Post is not bibliophile!) Shipping within France : 100 euros,Europe: 120 euros, Africa, Asia and Americas: 180 euros.
