Wealthy and smartly dressed, Manet was also an artist who naturally liked to mix in a bohemian society of fellow artists and musicians. Here he met two famous courtesans, Nina de Callias and Méry Laurent, who became the models for many of his paintings. He also had a love affair with the pretty Méry Laurent.
These women were not only courtesans. They both had many lovers, but they were also artists. Nina de Callias was an accomplished musician and Méry Laurent was a minor actress. They both mixed with famous writers and painters. Méry Laurent, Bertrand Marchall wrote, was an 'entire epoch'. He meant, according to Rosemary Lloyd in Mallarméand his Circle, was that she 'was a summation of France's Third Republic'.
Nina de Callias
Nina de Callias was born Anne-Marie Gaillard in 1843. She married Count Hector de Callias at a very young age, but his addiction to drink caused the marriage to fail. De Callias inherited money from her father, a barrister, so she was able to live comfortably, and she set up a Salon for artists and famous people. Such people as the poet, Verlaine, and Anatole de France, attended. She was an accomplished concert pianist and played the piano at these gatherings.
Manet met her at the Salon. He used her as a model for his painting, Lady with Fans. He shows her here as an elegant and confident Parisian lady relaxing on a sofa. The rather Japanese-influenced background is reminiscent of Monet. De Callias had many lovers, but she was respected in Paris because of her Salon.
Unfortunately, the portrait had to be hidden and kept in Manet's studio. Her husband became very jealous of Manet and demanded that he hide it in his studio. He obeyed, but after his death, the painting was bought by his sister-in-law, Berthe Morisot. A fellow Impressionist artist, Morisot had also been a model for Manet. Her daughter donated the painting to the national museums of France.
Nina de Callias, unfortunately, led an unhappy life after she returned to Paris from exile in Switzerland. She had gone there before the 1870 Revolution. Manet's 'slightly demented muse' became an alcoholic and suffered from mental illness. She died at only 45.
Méry Laurent
Méry Laurent also changed her name and married young. Her marriage also ended in disaster; she separated from her husband and went to Paris. Here, she acted in a few roles, including parts in Shakespearean plays. Her beauty soon attracted the attention of wealthy men.
Her most famous lover was the American dentist to the French Emperor, Dr. Thomas Evans. He established her in a house on the Rue de Reine and paid her 2000 francs a year. Even though Evans was very jealous, Laurent managed to have other lovers. These included the artist, Manet.
Manet was impressed with her beauty and elegance. Laurent also liked to dress in smart, fashionable clothes. Manet was especially impressed with her fur coat by Worth. He described it as ‘tawny brown with a lining in old gold’. He also said that it would ‘make a stunning background for things I dream of doing’. He painted Laurent in a fur coat in Woman in a Fur Coat. This was probably the coat that she wore. Manet’s other paintings of Laurent include Autumn and Woman in a Bathtub.
Laurent soon left Manet for the French poet, Mallarmé. She sent him presents when he was sick, however. She also placed the first white violets of the season on his grave every year after he died of syphilis.
Sources
The Lady with Fans: Nina de Callias, Manet’s Model
Méry Laurent: Manet and Proust’s Model
Lloyd, Rosemary, Mallarmé and His Circle, Cornell University Press, New York, 2005.
Neret, Gilles, Edouard Manet 1832-1883: The First of the Moderns, Taschen, Germany, 2003.
Lisa Sanderson - Lisa has been a freelance-writer for many years. She used to write for the topic, British Social History, for Suite 101 under the ...
Join the Conversation