Cleo de Merod ( Fr. Cléo de Mérode , full name Cleopatra Diana de Merod , English Cléopatra Diane de Mérode ; September 27, 1875 , Paris - October 11, 1966 , ibid.) - French dancer, star of the Beautiful era .
| Cleo de Merod | |
|---|---|
| Cléo de merode | |
 | |
| Birth name | Cleopatra Diana de Merod |
| Date of Birth | September 27, 1875 |
| Place of Birth | Paris , France |
| Date of death | October 11, 1966 (91 years old) |
| Place of death | Paris , France |
| A country | |
| Occupation | dancer |
| Autograph | |
Content
Biography
The daughter of the Austrian landscape painter Karl Freicherr de Merod (1853-1909) from the old and noble Belgian (or rather Dutch ) clan van Merod, associated with many aristocratic families of Europe.
Photo by L. Reutlinger, approx. 1897
She graduated from the ballet school at the National Opera in Paris. She has been performing on stage since she was 11 years old. At the Paris World's Fair 1900 showed " Cambodian Dances." Danced at the Foley Berger . She performed in Hamburg , Berlin , St. Petersburg , Budapest , New York . It was notable for its rare beauty, which made it a favorite model of many artists, sculptors and photographers of the era. She lived in Paris, in the same apartment with her mother, who was engaged in her career.
It was written by Degas , Toulouse-Lautrec , Boldini , Friedrich August von Kaulbach , Franz von Lenbach , photographed by Leopold Reutlinger , Felix Nadar and his son Paul, postcards with her images were extremely popular in the late XIX - early XX centuries. The magazine “Ilustrasion” in 1896 elected her the queen of beauty from 130 contemporary beauties.
The scandal in society was caused by the sculpture of Alexander Falgier (1831-1900) “Dancer” presented at the Paris Salon in 1896 [2] , for which Cleo posed: although she insisted that the portrait in this naked sculpture made of white marble was only her head, many contemporaries believed that the author used a fake dancer's body (this opinion was shared, in particular, by Gauguin ).
Among the numerous admirers of Cleo de Merod was the Belgian king Leopold II , which is described in the memoirs of a dancer (Parisians dedicated to this story teased King Cleopold for their eyes).
She graduated from a ballet career in 1925, moved to Biarritz and opened a dance school. Cleo de Merod was never married and had no children. In the last years of her life, she wrote memoirs. She was buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery .
Memoirs
- Le ballet de ma vie. Paris: Pierre Horay, 1955 (reprinted 1985)
Cinema
- In 1926, Cleo de Merod appeared in the German film Frauen der Leidenschaft .
- In Vienna, her beauty caught the attention of Gustav Klimt , their relationship later became the plot of the film Raul Ruiz Klimt ( 2006 , starring John Malkovich and Saffron Burrows).
Notes
- ↑ Anguera J. E. Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana - Editorial Espasa , 1905. - Vol. Suplemento 1965 - 1966. - P. 380 - 381. - ISBN 978-84-239-4500-9
- ↑ Michael Garval on Cléo de Mérode's Postcard Stardom
Literature
- Nos jolies actrices photographiées par Reutlinger . Paris: Ludovic Baschet, 1896
- Reissmann C. Cleo de Merode der Glückstraum einer Tänzerin ; Roman Heidenau: Mitteldeutsche Verlagsanstalt, 1921 (novel translated into several languages)
- Göransson S. Cleo de Merode: en dansös' lyckodröm: romantiserad skildring . Stockholm; Malmö: Förlaget Union, 1928
- Ochaim B., Balk C. Varieté-Tänzerinnen um 1900: vom Sinnenrausch zur Tanzmoderne . Frankfurt / Main: Stroemfeld / Roter Stern, 1998
- Golbin P., Leclercq J.-P. Garde-robes: Intimités dévoilées, de Cléo de Mérode à. . . Paris: Union centrale des arts décoratifs; Musée de la mode et du textile, 1999
- Corvisier C. Cléo de Mérode et la photographie: la première icône moderne . Paris: Éditions du Patrimoine, 2007