Fembio Special: Famous Lesbians
Romaine Brooks
(Beatrice Romaine Goddard [maiden name])
born on May 1, 1874 in Rome, Italy
died on December 7, 1970 in Nice, France
US-American painter
150th birthday on May 1, 2024
Biography
When 36-year-old Romaine Brooks exhibited for the first time at the famous Parisian gallery Durand-Ruel in 1910, she was immediately a great success. Her pictures of slender, sad-looking young women, painted entirely in blue-gray or beige-brown tones, appealed to the sophisticated public, who then clamored to be portrayed by her.
She painted many celebrities. Among her most outstanding works are portraits of Nathalie Barney, Una Troubridge, Elisabeth de Gramont, Renata Borgatti as well as her self-portraits; such a series of lesbian portraits is unique in art history. She painted the androgynous profiles of women wearing men’s suits and with severe short haircuts, top hats, and stiff collars, thus boldly capturing in oils the lesbian self-presentation of the 1920s with a certain ironic detachment (from which she did not exclude herself).
The daughter of an American millionaire, Brooks had spent an unhappy childhood and her adolescence in many different European hotels, boarding schools and convent schools. It was only after the death of her overwrought, unstable mother and mentally ill brother that the 28-year-old was able to afford the life she had longed for: a villa on Capri, the island of her dreams, and an elegant apartment in Paris furnished entirely according to her unconventional, modern taste. She also lived in London, Florence and New York.
Romaine Brooks and Natalie Barney were both around 40 when they met in Paris. They were “like fire and ice,” the introverted, difficult painter and the writer known as the “Amazon of Paris” who was famous both for having melted the hearts of numerous women and for her extensive contacts in intellectual and artistic circles.
Despite many crises, the relationship lasted almost 60 years. However, they mostly lived apart, with the exception of the war years, which they spent in exile in relative safety in Florence due to Brooks' close friendship with Gabriele d'Annunzio, the national poet of Italy.
Barney returned to Paris after the war to host once again her legendary Friday salons, while Brooks retired to Nice, where she lived alone, surrounded only by her paintings: “Alone, I am never lonely.”
Romaine Brooks died at the age of 96, after completing preparations for a major retrospective exhibition of her work (Washington 1971). Natalie Barney died two years later, aged 95, in Paris.
(Text from 1994; translated with DeepL.com; edited by Ramona Fararo, 2024.)
Please consult the German version for additional information (pictures, sources, videos, bibliography).
Quotes
The model ... has no idea of the physical effort involved in making a portrait. ... And none of this is taken into account when the portrait is given as a gift. No friendship is worth such generosity; on the contrary, the worst troubles are the result. (Romaine Brooks)
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