Laurencin, Marie

PAINTER, TEXTILE DESIGNER (FRANCE)
BORN 31 Oct 1883, Paris - DIED 8 Jun 1956, Paris
CAUSE OF DEATH stroke
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 88)

Marie Laurencin was illegitimate daughter of Alfred Toulet and Pauline Laurencin. She found out who her father was when she was 22 and by that time he had been death for eight years.

She was a student of Eugène Carrière and met Braque when she studied at the Académie Humbert. In 1907 Pablo Picasso introduced her to Apollinaire, with whom she had an affair until 1913. Marie was very shortsighted but she wore no glasses. She had sold her first painting to Gertrude Stein in 1908.

She married Baron Otto von Wätjen on June 22, 1914 in Paris and thus obtained the German nationality. During the First World War they went in exile to Spain, where she met Robert and Sonia Delaunay and Francis Picabia. In 1918 she heard that Apollinaire had died.

She returned to Paris in 1921 and seperared from her alcoholic husband during the same year, afterwards refusing to meet him if he came from Düsseldorf to see her. During her marriage she had an affair with Hanns Heinz Ewers, who dedicated his play "Das Wundermädchen von Berlin" (1912) to her. Her relation with Ewers ended in 1920.

She was known as the only female cubist and her work was influenced by Picasso and Braque. She painted scenery's for Diaghilev's ballets, drew and made prints.

In 1925 she took responsability for the education of Suzanne Moreau, the young daughter of a servant. In 1954 she officialy adopted her and Suzanne became her heir. According to her wishes she was buried dressed in white, with a rose in her hands and Apollinaire's love letters by her heart.

Work: "Apollinaire and His Friends" (1808).

Related persons
• was the lover of Apollinaire, Guillaume
• used as a model Bessy, Francine
• was pupil of Carrière, Eugène
• knew Colette, Sidonie Gabrielle
• worked for Diaghilev, Sergei

Images

The grave of Marie Laurencin at Père Lachaise, Paris.
Picture by Androom (19 Nov 2006)

 

"Portrait de Jeune Fille".
(Liège: Musée d'Art Moderne)
 

Sources
• Culbertson, Judi & Tom Randall, Permanent Parisians, Robson Books, London, 1991
• Phelps, Robert, Belles Saisons, A Colette Scrapbook, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1975
404 Introuvable | Gymnase de Morges


Laurens, Henri

Published: 18 Nov 2007
Last update: 26 Jan 2022