GABRIËLE
The saga of a surrealist muse, from Montmartre to New York
By Anne and Claire Berest
For me, reading was always the most captivating thing to do—I could spend hours in the sensation of escaping my world for another. And so, I am more than honoured to be able to share books I read, books I love with you all …
For this first book presentation I will tell you about the book of a beloved French écrivaine: Anne Berest. She and her sister Claire Berest fussioned their writing styles, idéeas and their past, to give Gabriële, their grand-grand mother, a voice.
After three year of research, Gabriële, takes life. “La femme, les femmes, une matière d’inspiration inépuisable” says Anne Berest—”woman, women, are an endless source of inspiration”.
Theoretician of art, artist’s muse and feminist, Gabriële Buffet-Picabia had a significant place in the world of art at the beginning of XXème siècle.
Although she’s not often mentioned in the context of art, this biography of her presents her with so many facettes. Being a student of Schola Cantorum, which was a unique thing in her époque, set her on the course to becoming a great compositrice. Gabriële, however, leaves it all behind to dedicate her energy and creativity into Francis Picabia’s work. (As you know, Picabia was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, he became associated with Cubism, and was one of the early major figures of the Dada movement in the United States and France.)
While his name is mostly associated with the Dada movement, he is also famed for his passion for cars, women, and vitesse …
Gabriële, with her incredible independence d’esprit, modeled the artist into being an innovateur in his work. At the time where Gabriële and Picabia meet, the artist was famous for his impressionist work, but after the encounter with Gabriële, he transferred to l’abstrait, to l’art modern.
She was the one thinking the tableau en avance, she integrated her passion for music into her husband’s painting, transforming sounds into colours. Remaining in the shadows all along the process made her such a powerful, modern woman of her time.
Hope you will have a chance to read the book, available here (for now only in French).
For more books written by Claire:
Bellevue (2016)
L’orchestre vide (2012)
Mikado (2011)
And Anne:
Recherche femme parfaite (2015)
Sagan 1954 (2014)
How to be Parisian wherever you are (2014)
Credits
Images via: @anneberest; WikiArt; Pinterest; featured image, Isabelle Adjani photographed by Jean-Claude Deutsch
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