The Scandalous Life of Natalie Clifford Barney

One of the astir towering literate figures of the Parisian literate country was a drama-prone lesbian, known for her galore lovers and fantastic parties. The scandalous beingness of the writer Natalie Clifford Barney inspired astir arsenic galore novels arsenic it did gossip columns. This pistillate would person been the astir fashionable of immoderate generation, but her prominence successful Paris successful the 1920s is particularly important to the decadent literate country of that era.

Her literary salons successful Paris were attended by radical similar Colette, Gertrude Stein, Eugène Jolas, Ezra Pound, and dozens of much notable guests. She was besides a writer, but the assemblage she created successful her literate salons was adjacent much important. Her nickname was “L’Amazone” (the Amazon), fixed to her by the writer Remy de Gourmont. She got the nickname due to the fact that she made the beforehand leafage for riding a equine astride, arsenic opposed to sidesaddle, similar an Amazonian warrior pistillate of Greek mythology.

Natalie Clifford Barney was calved connected October 31, 1876, successful Dayton, Ohio, to an incredibly affluent family. Her parents, Alice Pike and Albert Clifford Barney, had a ton of wealth from the railway industry. They besides had a 2nd child, Laura, and some Natalie and Laure were fixed high-class educations successful enactment with their family’s fiscal status.

Before her marriage, Alice was an artist, but she gave up her pursuits aft she got married. However, a accidental gathering with Oscar Wilde successful 1882 caused Alice to statesman to prosecute the arts again, penning and performing successful operas. Her paintings were besides shown astatine the Smithsonian successful Washington D.C.

As for Natalie, the gathering with Oscar Wilde imparted a large consciousness of intent for her arsenic well: “In her memoir Aventures de l’esprit (1929) she records what she nominates arsenic her First Adventure: the communicative of however Wilde scooped her up arsenic she ran past him fleeing a radical of tiny boys, and held her retired of their scope earlier sitting her down connected his genu to archer her a story, what she recalled arsenic ‘a fantastic tale.’”

After her begetter died successful 1902, Natalie inherited a sizable luck and began hosting her celebrated salon, with a peculiar absorption connected enactment by women. She moved to her location astatine 20 Rue Jacob successful the Latin Quarter of Paris successful 1909.

The value of the salon was successful the speech of ideas. Younger writers, painters, and different artists could find established mentors to assistance them. The salonnière (the fabulous pistillate big of a salon) cultivated a collaborative situation for artists. Natalie’s parent Alice hosted salons for painters successful Paris, portion Natalie focused connected writers. As a affluent patron of the arts, Natalie besides utilized her luck to assistance artists successful need.

During the First World War, Natalie’s salon persisted contempt the chaos of the satellite astir it. As it persisted, she received visitors similar Truman Capote, Marcel Proust, Colette, Ezra Pound, Djuna Barnes, Mina Loy, James Joyce and countless much important writers.  

In 1927, Natalie formed L’Acadèmie des Femmes arsenic a effect to the Acadèmie Française refusing to judge women into its ranks. Though it was an informal organization, designation by Natalie was important for the literate elite of Paris.

During the Second World War, Natalie stayed successful Florence and paused the salon. She restarted it arsenic soon arsenic she was able. After the war, she started a poesy prize in Renée Vivien’s name and continued to money publications honoring women writers.  

The Lesbian Lord Byron?

Lesbian TikTok play has thing connected the galore affairs of Natalie Clifford Barney. She was an out-and-proud lesbian successful the archetypal fractional of the 20th period and didn’t subscribe to monogamy, truthful she was a fig of aggravated involvement for the literate nine of the time.

In 1899, Natalie had her archetypal well-documented matter with Liane de Pougy, a celebrated courtesan. Natalie dressed arsenic a pageboy and seduced her by saying she was on a ngo from Sappho. This was besides 1 of the galore affairs of Natalie’s that inspired fiction: “Liane went connected to constitute a fictionalised relationship of their relationship, Idylle Saphique, which became a champion seller. All of Parisien society, of course, knew Natalie was the exemplary for ‘Flossie,’ the main character’s pistillate lover.”

An important emotion of Natalie’s was the writer Renée Vivien. Like Natalie, she inherited a luck from her begetter and moved to Paris to beryllium an retired lesbian. Though Renée dumped Natalie successful 1901, Natalie tried to support successful interaction with her until Renée’s death.

One of Natalie’s many important relationships began during the archetypal World War, with the creator Romaine Brooks. They stayed successful an unfastened narration for implicit 50 years. Natalie besides had a semipermanent narration with Élisabeth de Gramont, an outspoken socialist duchess. Natalie even “wrote up a matrimony contract” for herself and Élisabeth.

In addition, Natalie had a shorter narration with Colette (a predominant attendee of her salons), and a longer 1 with Dolly Wilde (Oscar Wilde’s niece). Natalie besides inspired the quality Valérie Seymour successful The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall. She besides served arsenic the basis for the main characters successful Ladies’ Almanack by Djuna Barnes and L’Ange et les Pervers by Lucie Delarue-Mardrus.

She and her longest-term partner, Romaine, broke up erstwhile Natalie was 90. Natalie ne'er stopped falling successful love, and she was a devoted person of women for her full life. The rubric of Suzanne Rodrgiquez-Hunter’s biography of Natalie, Wild Heart: A Life: Natalie Clifford Barney and the Decadence of Literary Paris, perfectly captures the decadent quality of Natalie’s insistence of a beingness afloat of love, writing, and the pursuit of knowledge.

Natalie’s Lasting Legacy

With each of these poetic experiences to thrust her art, it’s nary wonderment that Natalie was a prolific writer. In total, Natalie published “five poesy collections, […] 3 volumes of epigrams, 2 effort collections, 1 novel, and 3 memoirs.” She besides wrote epigrams, thought to beryllium solely the domain of antheral poets.

She published a publication reflecting connected her beingness and friendships, Aventures de l’Esprit, successful 1929. Her caller Amants Féminins ou les Troisième was a fictionalized relationship of a throuple she’d been successful with Liane de Pougy and Mimi Franchetti. This caller had been lost, and the caller that gained her attraction during her beingness was The One Who Is Legion, published successful 1930, astir a idiosyncratic who dies and wakes up without memories oregon gender.

Her past 2 memoirs, Souvenirs Indiscrets (1960) and Traits and Portraits (1963), documented her beingness and the galore writers she had known.

She died successful 1972, leaving down an enduring bequest of art, culture, and writers that inactive specify Paris to this day. She was buried astatine Cimetière de Passy. The literate country of Paris astir apt could not person flourished without Natalie’s sponsorship and stewardship of the literate salon.

It was adjacent much awesome that she lived arsenic an out-and-proud lesbian, contempt the criminalization of queer beingness successful the 20th century. Lesbians who contributed to literate civilization were particularly marginalized, truthful it’s important to bash reparative speechmaking enactment to admit the contributors queer radical person made to literate history.