'Charles, he likes men or women?' "Charles? He likes flowers''.
May 8, 2013 10:45 AM   Subscribe

Marie-Laure Noailles was a direct descendant of the Maquis de Sade, himself a Surrealist muse.
Together with her husband Charles she was their patron, possibly one of the greatest Art Patrons of the Twentieth Century. The couple spent much of the year at their villa in the South of France.
Charles preferred his gardens and his gym instuctor, and she embarked on a of a series of affairs, notably Jean Cocteau whose film Blood of a Poet was financed by them. They also financed Man Ray's Les Mystères du Château de Dé and Bunuel and Dali's L'Age d'Or (a scene in the garden) and Biceps et Bijoux for Jacques Manuel. Dali also painted her portrait as did Balthus another of her protégés.
Apart from film and art they also commisiones Francis Poulenc's Aubade.
Marie-Laure was photographed by Man Ray and her good friend Dora Maar. (Previous some links dead ).
Charles and her Marie-Laure although living seperate lives stayed the best of friends for the rest of their lives often phoning each other several times a day.

Another of her early lovers was James Lord and later in the '50s Oscar Dominguez. (Both previous FPP's.)
posted by adamvasco (6 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Another of her early lovers was James Lord

Mm? James Lord was pretty gay as I recall.
" ... when he told his father of his nascent homosexuality, Albert responded by arranging sessions with an analyst, who advised James to stop wearing Old Spice."
Marie-Laure Noailles also has a starring role in Ned Rorem's Paris diaries. I know he wasn't one of her lovers.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:49 PM on May 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


Maquis de Sade

Well, there's probably a Star Trek joke in there somewhere, but I never watched much Voyager or DS9.
posted by mrnutty at 1:11 PM on May 8, 2013


She became pregnant by Igor Markevitch who was previously Sergei Diaghilev's "best friend" if not lover.
Markevitch married Kyra who was Nijinsky's daughter. Nijinsky and Diaghilev had been lovers.
posted by adamvasco at 1:26 PM on May 8, 2013


Bunuel speaks fondly of them in his memoirs.
posted by ovvl at 8:03 PM on May 8, 2013


Having gone back again and looked at Lord's account of Marie-Laure in Six Exceptional Women, I'm even more doubtful that they were ever lovers (though I hope you'll speak up if you have a source for that claim). Not only is there an absence of so much as any hint of a romance between the two, Lord even writes,
" ... without quite saying so I suppose I made it sufficiently clear that we [Lord and Dora Maar] had not been to bed together, a clarification hardly necessary inasmuch as my hostess could not have failed to know that my sexual preference was similar to Ned's."
So, In lieu of romance, here's a 2001 episode of Un livre, un jour about Laurence Benaïm's then newly published biography, Marie-Laure de Noailles, La Vicomtesse Du Bizarre AND Suzanne von Aichinger's campy performace as Marie-Laure in an advertisement for the 2013 Hyères Fashion and Photography Festival.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:56 AM on May 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


My error, and I sincerely apologize. One of her earlier affairs was in 1933 with Edward James. [previously]; ( somewhere I have mixed up James Lord and Edward James).
James was also most probably gay but this is still debated.
What is more important is that he was also an extremely wealthy patron to the surrealists particularily Magritte and Dali.
posted by adamvasco at 8:31 AM on May 10, 2013


« Older "I really wish we were making a real movie"   |   It broke the loop Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments