Gabrièle Buffet-Picabia (often spelled Gabrielle Buffet-Picabia; Buffet; 21 November 1881 – 7 December 1985) was a French art critic and writer affiliated with

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...

. She was an organiser of the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

and the first wife of artist

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

Biography

Gabrielle Buffet was the daughter of Alphée Buffet and his wife, Laure ( Hugueteau de Chaillé). She studied music at the Schola Cantorum in Paris with

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...

, later in Berlin with

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

. She grew up with a brother artist who painted in the classical manner (See:

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

), far removed from the visionary works of her future husband, the painter

, whom she married in January 1909. Her influence inspired Picabia to compose his paintings as musical pieces. Gabriele-et-francis-picabia-a-seville1909 01

Gabriele-et-francis-picabia-a-seville1909 01

In Zurich, Gabrielle and Francis met

Hans Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...

and

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

. In October 1912, while she was with her mother in the family home of Étival,

Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

rejoined her along with

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

and

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

. Apollinaire there completed his poem ''Zone'', which begins the cycle entitled ''

Alcools ''Alcools'' (English: Alcohols) is a collection of poems by the French author Guillaume Apollinaire. His first major collection was published in 1913. The first poem in the collection, ''Zone'' (an epic poem of Paris), has been called "''the'' ...

''. This journey served as an inspiration to Duchamp who wrote four ''notes marginales, " Route Jura-Paris "'' from ''La Boîte de 1914''. Duchamp created a prelude to his work '' La Mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, même''. On the basis of the meeting, a book was published with essays on

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

, ''Les peintres cubistes'', by Apollinaire, financed by Picabia. In the magazine ''View'', Charles Henry Ford describes her as one of the first to write a serious account of 'Duchamphenomena'. The marriage with Francis Picabia, which produced four children, Laure, Pancho, Jeanine and Vincente, ended in divorce in 1930.

In the Resistance

From 1941, during the Second World War, she was a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

in Paris, alongside

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

, Mary Reynolds, Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil, and others. She was second in command in her region and her studio was a safe house for soldiers escaping via the Belgian-French line. Her daughter Jeanine was also in the resistance and the two of them avoided arrest. Others were arrested as their organisation was infiltrated and the Gestapo arrested another daughter, Marie, who was not a member of the resistance. Marie's husband was away and her children were without their mother so Gabrielle spent time with them in Lyon whilst still working for the resistance. Later, she was involved with Maurice Montet as he organised another line in the "south zone". Her significant contribution was later belittled possibly because others could not believe that a middle aged woman had been so involved. In fact, after Montet was arrested as a result of the double agent Jacques Desoubrie she left her place in

Dieulefit Dieulefit (; ''Dieulofé'', from Old Occitan ''Dieu lo fe'' "God made it") is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department The following is a list of the 363 communes of ...

and went further south climbing over the Pyrennes and travelling to Barcelona and Madrid. She went as far as Gibraltar where she was given a place to stay. She consulted with Donald Darling, a British diplomat and

MI9 MI9, the British Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, was a highly secret department of the War Office between 1939 and 1945. During World War II it had two principal tasks: (1) assisting in the escape of Allied prisoners of war (P ...

member known as "Sunday". He had a flat in

Main Street, Gibraltar Main Street ( es, Calle Real) is the main arterial street in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. History Main Street's route was established in the 14th century which was confirmed when the ''Puerta de África'' (now called the Southp ...

and he organised for her to be evacuated by air to Britain.

Post-war

In 1967

Marcel Janco Marcel Janco (, ; common rendition of the Romanian language, Romanian name Marcel Hermann Iancu ; 24 May 1895 – 21 April 1984) was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist. He was the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading ...

and Greta Deses made a film titled "Dada" which included interviews with

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...

, Hans Richter and Gabrièle Buffet-Picabia. The film competed in the 2001

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. In 1968 the

Hanover Gallery The Hanover Gallery was an art gallery in London. It was opened in June 1948 by the German art expert Erica Brausen and financier and art collector Arthur Jeffress at 32A St. George's Street, W1, and closed on 31 March 1973. It was named afte ...

in London had an exhibition of her and her husband's work.

Death and legacy

She died in 1985 at the age of 104. In August 2017, ''Gabriëlle'', written by

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

and

Claire Berest Claire Berest (born 14 July 1982 in Paris) is a French writer. Her partner is lawyer and writer, Abel Quentin. Biography Before publishing her first novel, Berest worked as a teacher and completed a maîtrise at the University of Paris (post-1970) ...

, was published by

Stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

. The authors are great-granddaughters of Buffet-Picabia, and their biography underscores Buffet-Picabia's decisive influence within avant-garde circles. According to an interview with the Berests (Bibliothèque Médicis, 2017), a second volume of Buffet-Picabia's life may follow.

Filmography

''Dada'' (1967)
by

and Greta Deses]

Selected publications

* ''Impressionnisme musical''. In: ''

Section d'Or The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...

'', Nr. 1, 9. October 1912 * ''Modern Art and the public''. In: ''

Camera Work ''Camera Work'' was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It presented high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world, with the goal to establish photography as a ...

'', June 1913 * ''Musique d’aujourd'hui''. In: ''

Les Soirées de Paris ''Les Soirées de Paris'' was a French literary and artistic review founded in February 1912 by Guillaume Apollinaire and four of his associates - André Billy, René Dalize, André Salmon, and . It was last published in August 1914. «Les Soir ...

'', Nr. 22, March 1914 * ''

Jean Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...

'', Essay. In: ''L’Art abstrait'', Presses littéraires de France, 1952 * ''Aires abstraites''. Pierre Cailler Éditeur, Geneva 1957 (foreword by Jean Arp) * ''Picabia, l’inventeur''. In: ''L'Œil'', Nr. 18, June 1956 * ''DADA. Dichtungen der Gründer.'' Dada Gedichte von Andre Breton, Gabrielle Buffet, F. Hardekopf, Emmy Hennings, J. van Hoddis, R. Huelsenbeck, Marcel Janco, W. Kandinsky, Francis Picabia, Walter Serner, Ph. Soupault, Tristan Tzara. Peter Schifferli Verlags AG Die Arche, Zürich 1957 * ''Rencontres avec Picabia, Apollinaire, Cravan, Duchamp, Arp, Calder''. P. Belfond, Paris 1977, * ''Gabriëlle'', Anne Berest, Claire Berest, Paris, 450p, collection La Bleue, Stock, 2017,

Translations

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...

, ''Histoire du brave Gaspard et de la belle Annette'', Paris, Mercure de France - Bruxelles, Nouvelle Revue de Belgique, 1942 *

Vassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

, ''Regard sur le passé'', , 1946

References

External links

Fiche sur les site des Français libres

sur le site de l'INA
Correspondance avec André Breton

in jura-paris-centenary.com
Photograph of the Picabia, 1921
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffet-Picabia, Gabriele Dada 20th-century French essayists French art critics French centenarians 1881 births People from Fontainebleau 1985 deaths French women art critics Women centenarians 20th-century French women writers French women essayists French Resistance members Francis Picabia