Marie-Laure de Noailles
Encyclopedia
Marie-Laure de Noailles, Vicomtesse de Noailles (31 October 1902 - 29 January 1970), was one of the 20th century's most daring and influential patron
s of the art
s, noted for her associations with Salvador Dalí
, Balthus
, Jean Cocteau
, Man Ray
, Luis Buñuel
, Francis Poulenc
, Jean Hugo
, Jean-Michel Frank
and others as well as her tempestuous life and eccentric personality. She and her husband financed Ray's film Les Mystères du Château de Dé (1929), Poulenc's Aubade
(1929), Buñuel and Dalí's film L'Âge d'Or
(1930), and Cocteau's The Blood of a Poet
(1930).
, and her maternal grandmother, Laure de Sade, Countess de Chevigné, inspired at least one character in In Search of Lost Time
by Marcel Proust
. Her nephew Philippe Lannes de Montebello
was the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York City. Her stepfather was the French playwright Francis de Croisset
, and her former sister-in-law, Jacqueline de Croisset, became the third wife of the actor Yul Brynner
.
After a brief romance with the artist Jean Cocteau
, Marie-Laure Bischoffsheim married, in 1923, Charles, Vicomte de Noailles
(26 September 1891- 28 April 1981), a son of François Joseph Eugène Napoléon de Noailles
, grandson of Antonin-Just-Léon-Marie de Noailles
and younger brother of the 6th Duc de Mouchy
(father of Philippe François Armand Marie de Noailles
), himself a cadet of the French ducal house of Noailles. Though events eventually transpired to reveal that Charles de Noailles preferred men sexually, the ill-matched couple had two daughters:
Marie-Laure de Noailles and her husband moved to the fabled hôtel particulier at 11 Place des États-Unis
in Paris, which was built by her grandfather Bischoffsheim. Its interiors, which were redecorated in the 1920s by French minimalist designer Jean-Michel Frank
, vanished in the 1980s, due to a subsequent owner's redecoration and remodelling.
Today the interiors have been renovated by Philippe Starck
and house the Musée Baccarat
and the headquarters of Baccarat
, the crystal company.
In the 1920s, the Noailles built the Villa Noailles
near Hyères
. She had an affair with the young Igor Markevitch
.
in the 1950s she had a long term affair with the surrealist painter Óscar Domínguez
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
s of the art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
s, noted for her associations with Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Balthus
Balthus
Balthasar Klossowski de Rola , best known as Balthus, was an esteemed but controversial Polish-French modern artist....
, Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
, Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
, Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
, Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, Jean Hugo
Jean Hugo
Victor Jean Hugo is a South African professional golfer.Hugo matriculated at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 1994 and graduated three years later with a BA Degree from the University of Stellenbosch prior to becoming a professional golfer...
, Jean-Michel Frank
Jean-Michel Frank
Jean-Michel Frank was a French interior designer known for minimalist interiors decorated with plain-lined but sumptuous furniture made of luxury materials, such as shagreen, mica, and intricate straw marquetry.-Life and career:...
and others as well as her tempestuous life and eccentric personality. She and her husband financed Ray's film Les Mystères du Château de Dé (1929), Poulenc's Aubade
Aubade
An aubade is a morning love song , or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It has also been defined as "a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak"....
(1929), Buñuel and Dalí's film L'Âge d'Or
L'Âge d'Or
L'Âge d'or is a 1930 surrealist film directed by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel and written by him and Salvador Dalí.The film began as a second collaboration with Dalí, but, by the time the film went into production, Buñuel and Dalí had had a falling-out, and so Dalí actually had nothing to do with...
(1930), and Cocteau's The Blood of a Poet
The Blood of a Poet
The Blood of a Poet is an avant-garde film directed by Jean Cocteau and financed by Charles de Noailles. Photographer Lee Miller made her only film appearance in this movie, and it also features an appearance by the famed aerialist Barbette...
(1930).
Biography
She was born Marie-Laure Henriette Anne Bischoffsheim, the only child of Marie-Thérèse de Chevigné, a French aristocrat, and Maurice Bischoffsheim, a Paris banker of German Jewish and American Quaker descent. One of her great-great-great-grandfathers was the Marquis de SadeMarquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
, and her maternal grandmother, Laure de Sade, Countess de Chevigné, inspired at least one character in In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its considerable length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine." The novel is widely...
by Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
. Her nephew Philippe Lannes de Montebello
Philippe de Montebello
Philippe de Montebello served from 1977 to 2008 as the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. On his retirement, he was both the longest-serving director in the institution's history, and the longest-serving director of any major art museum in the world...
was the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York City. Her stepfather was the French playwright Francis de Croisset
Francis de Croisset
Francis de Croisset was a Belgium-born French playwright and opera librettist.His opera librettos include Massenet's Chérubin , based on his play of the same name, and Reynaldo Hahn's Ciboulette .He married, in 1910, Marie-Thérèse Bischoffsheim, the widow of banking heir Maurice Bischoffsheim and...
, and her former sister-in-law, Jacqueline de Croisset, became the third wife of the actor Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
.
After a brief romance with the artist Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
, Marie-Laure Bischoffsheim married, in 1923, Charles, Vicomte de Noailles
Charles de Noailles
Charles de Noailles , Arthur Anne Marie Charles, Vicomte de Noailles was a French nobleman and patron of the arts.-Biography:...
(26 September 1891- 28 April 1981), a son of François Joseph Eugène Napoléon de Noailles
François Joseph Eugène Napoléon de Noailles
François Joseph Eugène Napoléon de Noailles 10th prince de Poix, was a French nobleman.Son of Antonin-Just-Léon-Marie de Noailles , duc de Mouchy, and the princesse Anne Murat , he was married on 29 June 1889, to Madeleine Marie Isabelle Dubois de Courval .They had four children:#...
, grandson of Antonin-Just-Léon-Marie de Noailles
Antonin-Just-Léon-Marie de Noailles
Antoine Just Léon Marie de Noailles 9th prince de Poix, from 6th duc espagnol de Mouchy, 5th duc français de Mouchy et duc de Poix, from 1854, was a French nobleman....
and younger brother of the 6th Duc de Mouchy
Duc de Mouchy
The title of duke of Mouchy was a French peerage held by members of a cadet branch of the Noailles family.The founder of the branch, Philippe, comte de Noailles , was the younger brother of Louis, 4th duc de Noailles and a marshal of France....
(father of Philippe François Armand Marie de Noailles
Philippe François Armand Marie de Noailles
Philippe François Armand Marie de Noailles, Duc de Mouchy, Prince-Duc de Poix was a cadet of the French ducal house of Noailles , and second in succession to the senior title, son of Henry Antoine Marie de Noailles, Duc de Mouchy, Prince-Duc de Poix, and of Marie de La Rochefoucauld...
), himself a cadet of the French ducal house of Noailles. Though events eventually transpired to reveal that Charles de Noailles preferred men sexually, the ill-matched couple had two daughters:
- Laure Madeleine Thérèse Marie de Noailles, later Madame Bertrand de La Haye Jousselin (1924–1979).
- Nathalie Valentine Marie de Noailles, former wife of Alessandro Perrone (1927–2004).
Marie-Laure de Noailles and her husband moved to the fabled hôtel particulier at 11 Place des États-Unis
Place des États-Unis
The Place des États-Unis is a public space in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, about 500 m south of the Place de l'Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe....
in Paris, which was built by her grandfather Bischoffsheim. Its interiors, which were redecorated in the 1920s by French minimalist designer Jean-Michel Frank
Jean-Michel Frank
Jean-Michel Frank was a French interior designer known for minimalist interiors decorated with plain-lined but sumptuous furniture made of luxury materials, such as shagreen, mica, and intricate straw marquetry.-Life and career:...
, vanished in the 1980s, due to a subsequent owner's redecoration and remodelling.
Today the interiors have been renovated by Philippe Starck
Philippe Starck
Philippe Patrick Starck is a French product designer and probably the best known designer in the New Design style...
and house the Musée Baccarat
Musée Baccarat
The Musée Baccarat is a private museum of Baccarat crystal located in the 16th arrondissement at 11, place des États-Unis, Paris, France. It is open daily except Sundays, Tuesdays, and holidays; an admission fee is charged....
and the headquarters of Baccarat
Baccarat (company)
Baccarat Crystal is a manufacturer of fine crystal glassware located in Baccarat, France. The company owns two museums: the Musée Baccarat in Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle and the Galerie-Musée Baccarat, on the Place des États-Unis in Paris...
, the crystal company.
In the 1920s, the Noailles built the Villa Noailles
Villa Noailles
Villa Noailles is an early modernist house, built by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens for art patrons Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, between 1923 and 1927. It is located in the hills above Hyères, in the Var, southeastern France.- History :...
near Hyères
Hyères
Hyères , Provençal Occitan: Ieras in classical norm or Iero in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
. She had an affair with the young Igor Markevitch
Igor Markevitch
Igor Markevitch was a Ukrainian, Italian, and French composer and conductor.- Origin :Igor Markevich was born in Kiev, to an old family of Ukrainian Cossack starshyna ennobled in the 18th century...
.
in the 1950s she had a long term affair with the surrealist painter Óscar Domínguez
Óscar Domínguez
Oscar M. Domínguez was a Spanish surrealist painter.Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island of Tenerife, Domínguez spent his youth with his grandmother in Tacoronte and devoted himself to painting at a young age after suffering a serious illness which affected his growth and caused a...
Ancestors
External links
- An Online Gotha: Noailles showing the Noailles family genealogy
See also
- Duke of NoaillesDuke of NoaillesThe title of Duke of Noailles was a French peerage created in 1663 for Anne of Noailles, count of Ayen.The second, third and fourth dukes were all marshals of France...