Méry Laurent, born Anne Rose Suzanne Louviot (29 April 1849 - 26 November 1900), was a demi-mondaine (

courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

) and the muse of several Parisian artists. She used to run her own “''

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

''” where she hosted many French (and even American) writers and painters of her time:

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French Symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools o ...

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

François Coppée François Edouard Joachim Coppée (; 26 January 1842 – 23 May 1908) was a French poet and novelist. Biography Coppée was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war and wo ...

Henri Gervex Henri Gervex (10 December 1852 – 7 June 1929) was a French painter who studied painting under Alexandre Cabanel, Pierre-Nicolas Brisset, and Eugène Fromentin. Biography Early years He was the son of Joséphine Peltier and Félix Nicolas Gerve ...

James Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

, and

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

Biography

Anne Rose Suzanne Louviot was born in Nancy in 1849. She was the daughter of a woman who worked as a laundress in Marshal Francois Certain De Canrobert's household, and of an unknown father. Her laundress mother sold her 15-year-old daughter's virginity to Canrobert, so that her daughter would become Canorbert's mistress and receive an annuity for life of 500 francs per month. When she turned 16, this enabled her to go in Paris, where she started a career as an actress. She played im light comedies at The

Théâtre des Variétés The Théâtre des Variétés () is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974. History The theatre owed its creation to Mademoiselle Montans ...

; the most well known role there was the

Venus Anadyomene ''Venus Anadyomene'' (, "Venus, Rising from the Sea") is one of the iconic representations of the goddess Venus (mythology), Venus (Aphrodite), made famous in a much-admired painting by Apelles, now lost, but described in Natural History (encycl ...

, posing naked on her shell; at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

, she also played Offenbach's

féerie ''Féerie'' (), sometimes translated as "fairy play", was a French theatrical genre known for fantasy plots and spectacular visuals, including lavish scenery and mechanically worked stage effects. ''Féeries'' blended music, dancing, pantomime, ...

s such as La Belle Hélène. In 1874, she met Thomas W. Evans, an extremely wealthy American dental surgeon who tended to many high-profile people, and even royal families. He made her his mistress and helped her settle down at 52, rue de Rome, where she held her “salon”, hosting all of the Parisian artistic

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

. Through this occasion, she became the mistress of Francois Coppée,

Antonin Proust Antonin Proust (15 March 183220 March 1905) was a French journalist and politician. Antonin Proust was born at Niort, Deux-Sèvres. In the 1840s, Proust attended the Collège Rollin where he met lifelong friend Édouard Manet. In September 1850, ...

, as well as Edouard Manet's mistress and model. Mallarme dedicated many poems to her, and they left behind a wealth of correspondence. When Laurent died, she bequeathed her wealth to Victor Margueritte, her last favorite and "protégé", with the exception of her allegoric portrait of ''Autumn'' (a painting by Manet, begun in 1882), which went to the

Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy The Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy (), one of the oldest museums in France, is housed in one of the pavilions on the Place Stanislas, in the heart of the 18th-century urban ensemble, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The museum displays an impor ...

. Laurent was buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery (56th section).

Her "Salon"

The "

" she ran was a place of exchanges which boosted the creative steps of those who patronized it: one could find there Edouard Manet and Henri Gervex, but also poets and writers such as

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel (1884, pub ...

(the author painted Méry Laurent's portrait through Odette de Crécy's character in " Swann in Love",In 1880, Thomas W. Evans offered to Méry Laurent a house at 9 boulevard Lannes in Talus. The Swann's family house in Marcel Proust's novel was inspired by Mery Laurent's house.) or even Zola (who based his 1880 novel '' Nana'' on Méry Laurent). She also received sculptors, lyrical artists and musicians, such as

Hortense Schneider Hortense Catherine Schneider, ''La Snédèr'', (30 April 1833 in Bordeaux, France – 5 May 1920, in Paris, France) was a French soprano, one of the greatest operetta stars of the 19th century, particularly associated with the works of composer Jac ...

and

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn de Echenagucia (9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born ...

. Hahn would go on to become her

testamentary A testator () is a person who has written and executed a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person who makes a will."Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2003), p. 55 ...

executor.

Her portraits by Edouard Manet

File:Edouard Manet Automne Mery Laurent.jpg, Autumn, Portrait Of Méry Laurent in a Brown Fur Cape, 1881 File:Edouard Manet Mery Laurent au Chapeau de Loutre.jpg, Méry Laurent with a Fur Hat, 1882 File:Édouard Manet - Méry Laurent au carlin.jpg, Méry Laurent with a Pug, 1882 File:Édouard Manet - Mery Laurent au Chapeau Noir.jpg, Méry Laurent with a black hat, 1882 File:Edouard Manet Mery Laurent au petit chapeau.JPG, Méry Laurent with a little hat, 1882

Biography

Her "Salon"

Her portraits by Edouard Manet

References

Further reading

External links