The Scandalous Life of Natalie Clifford Barney

One of probably the most towering literary figures of the Parisian literary scene was a drama-prone lesbian, identified for her many lovers and improbable events. The scandalous life of the poet Natalie Clifford Barney impressed nearly as many novels because it did gossip columns. This girl would have been the preferred of any era, however her prominence in Paris within the Twenties is very essential to the decadent literary scene of that period.

Her literary salons in Paris have been attended by folks like Colette, Gertrude Stein, Eugène Jolas, Ezra Pound, and dozens of extra notable visitors. She was additionally a author, however the group she created in her literary salons was much more essential. Her nickname was “L’Amazone” (the Amazon), given to her by the poet Remy de Gourmont. She obtained the nickname as a result of she made the entrance web page for using a horse astride, versus sidesaddle, like an Amazonian warrior girl of Greek mythology.

Natalie Clifford Barney was born on October 31, 1876, in Dayton, Ohio, to an extremely rich household. Her mother and father, Alice Pike and Albert Clifford Barney, had a ton of cash from the railway trade. They additionally had a second youngster, Laura, and each Natalie and Laure got high-class educations consistent with their household’s monetary standing.

Before her marriage, Alice was an artist, however she gave up her pursuits after she obtained married. However, an opportunity assembly with Oscar Wilde in 1882 brought about Alice to start to pursue the humanities once more, writing and performing in operas. Her work have been additionally proven on the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.

As for Natalie, the assembly with Oscar Wilde imparted a terrific sense of objective for her as properly: “In her memoir Aventures de l’esprit (1929) she records what she nominates as her First Adventure: the story of how Wilde scooped her up as she ran past him fleeing a group of small boys, and held her out of their reach before sitting her down on his knee to tell her a story, what she recalled as ‘a wonderful tale.’”

After her father died in 1902, Natalie inherited a large fortune and commenced internet hosting her well-known salon, with a particular concentrate on work by ladies. She moved to her house at 20 Rue Jacob within the Latin Quarter of Paris in 1909.

The significance of the salon was within the alternate of concepts. Younger writers, painters, and different artists might discover established mentors to assist them. The salonnière (the fabulous feminine host of a salon) cultivated a collaborative atmosphere for artists. Natalie’s mom Alice hosted salons for painters in Paris, whereas Natalie centered on writers. As a rich patron of the humanities, Natalie additionally used her fortune to help artists in want.

During the First World War, Natalie’s salon continued regardless of the chaos of the world round it. As it continued, she obtained guests like Truman Capote, Marcel Proust, Colette, Ezra Pound, Djuna Barnes, Mina Loy, James Joyce and numerous extra essential writers.  

In 1927, Natalie fashioned L’Acadèmie des Femmes as a response to the Acadèmie Française refusing to just accept ladies into its ranks. Though it was an off-the-cuff group, recognition by Natalie was essential for the literary elite of Paris.

During the Second World War, Natalie stayed in Florence and paused the salon. She restarted it as quickly as she was in a position. After the struggle, she began a poetry prize in Renée Vivien’s title and continued to fund publications honoring ladies writers.  

The Lesbian Lord Byron?

Lesbian TikTok drama has nothing on the numerous affairs of Natalie Clifford Barney. She was an out-and-proud lesbian within the first half of the twentieth century and didn’t subscribe to monogamy, so she was a determine of intense curiosity for the literary society of the time.

In 1899, Natalie had her first well-documented affair with Liane de Pougy, a well-known courtesan. Natalie dressed as a pageboy and seduced her by saying she was on a mission from Sappho. This was additionally one of the numerous affairs of Natalie’s that impressed fiction: “Liane went on to write a fictionalised account of their relationship, Idylle Saphique, which became a best seller. All of Parisien society, of course, knew Natalie was the model for ‘Flossie,’ the main character’s female lover.”

An essential love of Natalie’s was the poet Renée Vivien. Like Natalie, she inherited a fortune from her father and moved to Paris to be an out lesbian. Though Renée dumped Natalie in 1901, Natalie tried to maintain involved along with her till Renée’s demise.

One of Natalie’s many vital relationships started in the course of the first World War, with the painter Romaine Brooks. They stayed in an open relationship for over fifty years. Natalie additionally had a long-term relationship with Élisabeth de Gramont, an outspoken socialist duchess. Natalie even “wrote up a marriage contract” for herself and Élisabeth.

In addition, Natalie had a shorter relationship with Colette (a frequent attendee of her salons), and an extended one with Dolly Wilde (Oscar Wilde’s niece). Natalie additionally impressed the character Valérie Seymour in The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall. She additionally served as the idea for the primary characters in Ladies’ Almanack by Djuna Barnes and L’Ange et les Pervers by Lucie Delarue-Mardrus.

She and her longest-term companion, Romaine, broke up when Natalie was 90. Natalie by no means stopped falling in love, and he or she was a faithful lover of ladies for her total life. The title of Suzanne Rodrgiquez-Hunter’s biography of Natalie, Wild Heart: A Life: Natalie Clifford Barney and the Decadence of Literary Paris, completely captures the decadent nature of Natalie’s insistence of a life full of love, writing, and the pursuit of information.

Natalie’s Lasting Legacy

With all of these poetic experiences to drive her artwork, it’s no surprise that Natalie was a prolific author. In complete, Natalie revealed “five poetry collections, […] three volumes of epigrams, two essay collections, one novel, and three memoirs.” She additionally wrote epigrams, regarded as solely the area of male poets.

She revealed a e-book reflecting on her life and friendships, Aventures de l’Esprit, in 1929. Her novel Amants Féminins ou les Troisième was a fictionalized account of a throuple she’d been in with Liane de Pougy and Mimi Franchetti. This novel had been misplaced, and the novel that gained her consideration throughout her lifetime was The One Who Is Legion, revealed in 1930, about an individual who dies and wakes up with out reminiscences or gender.

Her final two memoirs, Souvenirs Indiscrets (1960) and Traits and Portraits (1963), documented her life and the numerous writers she had identified.

She died in 1972, forsaking an everlasting legacy of artwork, tradition, and writers that also outline Paris to at the present time. She was buried at Cimetière de Passy. The literary scene of Paris in all probability couldn’t have flourished with out Natalie’s sponsorship and stewardship of the literary salon.

It was much more spectacular that she lived as an out-and-proud lesbian, regardless of the criminalization of queer life within the twentieth century. Lesbians who contributed to literary tradition have been particularly marginalized, so it’s essential to do reparative studying work to acknowledge the contributors queer folks have made to literary historical past.