Natalie Barney: Love and Fortune

November 2010

 

Love became her religion (to Natalie Clifford Barney nothing moved her so much and so intensely as love), an economic fortune was given to her since the cradle by blood, and fortune or luck in life were granted to her by fate: perhaps these three ingredients had to do with the fact that it was virtually impossible to resist this mysterious woman. Maybe… But what is certain is that no one offered any resistance to this great seductress.

Born, as they say, with a loaf under her arm: a childhood rocked in a cradle of dreams among the softest cottons. So Natalie Barney spent her first decade: in the bosom of a wealthy family without suffering major setbacks than those according to each age. With only 12 springtimes, Natalie discovered that love for her, had the face and the body of a woman. She never hid it, costing her more than a derogatory comment, but our beloved Amazon (so called) didn’t hide and over time she even conquered the hearts of many of those who once criticized her for airing her love for women. Captivating, intelligent, owner of an exquisite elegance in manners and ways, those who knew her agree and highlight the magic that surrounded this very special woman.

Extremely attractive in every way, her physical beauty was much admired as her inner beauty. Huge blue eyes, her blond hair didn’t go unnoticed to anyone who had had the opportunity to cross with her. This golden hair earned her the name “Moonlight” (moonbeam), which was given by her fans and admirers.

American by birth, she spent her childhood and teenage years in Washington, with her parents and sister Laura. But Natalie always felt drawn to the language of Voltaire, who she learned from an early age. Soon her father, whom his daughter’s inclinations and attraction for women caused him constant headaches, decided to send her to Europe, and Natalie managed to convince him that Paris was the perfect place for her. Thus came our Amazon to the French capital, a city that welcomed her and where she became the writer she was and that peculiar character already glimpsed from a very young age.

Miss Barney managed to have iher own literary salon at the number 20 of la rue Jacob in the Paris suburb of Saint-Germain-des-Pres: the famous Académie des femmes. Fascinated and delighted by Sappho, who she discovered with only 16 years, Natalie tries to reproduce the circle of poets of Lesbos in the salon. Professional women came there from all over the world, attracted by her brilliant reputation, which came together in this room to join forces and voices to exhibit their works and bring them to light later, and to fight for their reputation as “women.” Among the figures who attended or passed through there, we highlight Gertrude Stein, Marguerite Yourcenar, Alice B. Toklas, Radclyffe Hall, Vita Sackville-West, Tamara de Lempicka … Even the very Greta Garbo gave us her presence in this prestigious Temple of Friendship (a name also given).

Natalie had many and various lovers. Her nickname “Amazon” wasn’t in vane. A transgressor and rebelliuos woman against the social conventions which she had to live, owner of an attractive and seductive personality, many intellectual women of the time saw themselves tangled in her sheets. She was feared by husbands of that time and one of her typical phrases was: “The first thing I see in a man is the woman by his side.” Among those who succumbed to her charms we could highlight the following:

British poet Renée Vivien, who abandoned her, much to her regret, because she couldn’t bear the many infidelities of the Amazon who referred to her as “Pauline” when speaking of the lover and “Renee” when speaking of the poet. In her book “Une femme m’apparut” (A woman appeared to me), Renée talks about Natalie, who she gives the name of Lorely in the work, and who she classifies as the “Priestess of love.”

Both in her work Souvenirs Indiscrets as in her Autobiographie, Natalie tells us about her sentimental relation with Renee.

The American painter Romaine Brooks, with whom she had a long romance that lasted nearly half a century. Natalie highlights about her: “She is of such an integrity and moral whitness that brings out other people spots” (Jean Chalon, Natalie Barney: Portrait of a seductress, Institutions Alfons the Magnanimous, Diputación de Valencia, 2004, p 130).

- Writer Liane de Pougy, who, in her book Sapphic Idyll, recounts her relationship with Amazon, proving once again that special gift that she possessed in the art of combining words. Liane was a consistent person in the life of Natalie. “She taught me everything,” the Amazon would say. Their friendship lasted a lifetime.

- French writer Colette, who took her as an inspiration for her book Claudine s’en va.

- Great dancer Isadora Duncan, whose life was a rollercoaster of misfortune: death and decay marked her life in a tragic way.

- Dolly Wilde, niece of the emblematic Oscar Wilde, intimate friend of Natalie as well. Miss Barney listed her among her most important relationships.

With a life and a career that cannot go unnoticed, Natalie Clifford Barney has left us an important legacy in literature. Her works were many, such as: Quelques Portraits-Sonnets de femmes (1900), Pensées d’une Amazone (1920), Nouvelles pensées de l’Amazone (1939), Souvenirs Indiscrets (1960), Traits et Portraits (1963). Emblematic woman wherever, Natalie has been, is and will be a great example of bravery and courage in the struggle for lesbian visibility concern. A charismatic woman, captivating, seductive, owner of a brilliant and irresistible personality and an absorbing pen. If love was her religion, she managed to become the religion of many women.

More information:

- Jean Chalon, Natalie Barney: Portrait of a seductress, institutions Alfons the Magnanimous, Diputación de Valencia, 2004.