elegant wits

Sun 1.9.22

      I am reading a delightful book entitled Elegant Wits and Grand Horizontals about the Belle Epoche (beautiful era) in Paris between 1871 and 1914, a time of creativity similar to our Kennedy Camelot years, the 60’s, but much grander.  Art, fashion, music, theatre and literature were experiencing revolutionary transformation.  This is the era of Gaughin, Matisse, Bonnard, Toulouse-Lautrec and art nouveau style in everything from posters, furnishings, clothes, architecture.  This flowering was experienced at every level of society from the Tout Paris (the elites) to the popular culture, the theatre, the cabarets, restaurants.  Auguste Escoffier was chef at the Ritz.

      In literature, you had writers like de Maupassant, Zola, Marcel Proust, Andre Gide, Colette.  What especially fascinates me was the literary and intellectual salons formed and managed mostly by women.  A meal would be served at these weekly gatherings followed by conversation and perhaps a play or concert.  One was expected to entertain and or educate at these meetings, otherwise you would not be re-invited.  The salonières sought out the masters in all fields for their salons and competed ferociously with each other for them.  Generally, a solonière would have a Grand Homme (great man) as the star of her salon.  Such stars never had to eat at home as they were sought every evening to grace these intellectual soirees.  Can you imagine sitting at a salon with the naughty Colette, with Marcel Proust who would undoubtedly be sizing you up to see how he would fit you into his Remembrance of Things Past, and then to hear Matisse discuss his fabulous gardens and their inspiration in his painting?  People back then had well rounded educations, especially the French with their love of the bon mot, the witty remark. Below is a portrait of the most famous saloniere of the era, Madame Germaine de Staël. Her salons were brilliant with scientists, writers, artists.

      The only semblance to that form of conversation today is in the practice of law, which is a discipline regulating what, when and how one may converse in that forum, other than that the loudest, most belligerent voice rules.

The favorite post this month has been, Monopoly Experiment