Romaine Brooks
Born: May 1, 1874
Death: December 7, 1970 Birth Place: Rome, Italy |
About Me:
In 1905 Romaine Brooks moved to Paris, bought an apartment on the Avenue TrocadŽro, and rented a large studio on the left bank. Her talent for music, art, and interior design brought her the patronage of important people. Around 1908 Brooks became infatuated with the princess Edmond de Polignac (Winnaretta Singer) and her wonderful salon of musicians, artists, dancers, and writers. The following year Brooks met the Italian protofascist and man of action Gabriele D'Annunzio at a dinner given by an artist friend famous for his colorful posters and paintings. D'Annunzio's comment that so much more can be expressed without any color at all prompted Brooks to invite him to see her work. Thus began a complicated friendship that lasted for nearly three decades and had a profound impact on her art. In the summer of 1914 World War I began while Brooks and her lover, the bisexual Russian Jewish performance artist Ida Rubinstein, were vacationing in Switzerland. They rushed home to Paris to join in the war effort. Brooks volunteered to drive a jeep and painted a heroic portrait of Rubinstein entitled La France Croisee (1914). This and other services to France earned her the Legion of Honor. - Anb.org |