Muguet de Paris

I recently finished reading Misia, The Life of Misia Sert, by Arthur Gold and Robert Fitzdale. This is the biography of an extraordinary woman whose life spanned two world wars and a succession of important artistic movements.

Thrice married, each time to an influential man (the founder of La Revue Blanche, a banker and press magnate, a fashionable artist), Misia’s salon was the place where  Parisian high society rubbed elegantly-clad elbows with the lights of the artistic and literary currents of the time. 

A gifted pianist of Polish descent, Misia set aside her musical aspirations to marry. But, more than an observer, Misia was always a player. Muse, model, patron, friend — she was painted by Toulouse-Lautrec (to whom we owe the cover art), Renoir, Bonnard and Valloton, and was the inspiration for characters by Proust and Cocteau.  

Her closest and most enduring friendships were with Diaghilev, the flamboyant impresario of the Ballets Russes, and with Coco Chanel. As is often the case between women who are close, Misia and Chanel were also rivals. It was Misia who introduced Chanel to Parisian society. In later years, their fortunes shifted, as did the balance of power, and it was Chanel who sustained her to the end of her days. 

This book, which first appeared in 1980 (originally written in English), is the result of exhaustive research. The authors (and, by extension, the reader) are fortunate to have had access to the papers and first-person accounts of numerous people who had been part of Misia’s inner circle. Misia offers an intimate view of the history of the time,often seen through the eyes of its leading actors. This is an excellent reference work and a good read.

Jan del Monte, blogging from the rue du Cherche-Midi, Paris, France

© 2008 Jan del Monte

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