MARCHESA
LUISA CASATI " Self made Work of Art or unbalaced and macabre 'monument'
of egocentrism, narcisism and decadence" ?
Luisa,
Marchesa Casati Stampa di Soncino (23 January 1881 – 1 June 1957), was an
Italian heiress, muse, and patroness of the arts in early 20th-century Europe.
Luisa Adele
Rosa Maria Amman was born in Milan, the younger of two daughters of Alberto
Amman and his wife Lucia (née Bressi). Her father was of Austrian-Jewish
descent , while her mother was Italian and Austrian. Her father was made a count
by King Umberto I. Her mother died when Luisa was 13, and her father died two
years later, making his daughters, Luisa and her older sister, Francesca
(1880–1919, married Giulio Padulli), reportedly the wealthiest women in Italy.
In 1900,
she married Camillo, Marchese Casati Stampa di Soncino (Muggiò, 12 August 1877
– Roma, 18 September 1946). The couple's only child, Cristina Casati Stampa di
Soncino, was born the following year. The Casatis maintained separate
residences for the duration of their marriage. They were legally separated in
1914. They remained married until Marchese Casati's death in 1946.
In 1925,
the couple's daughter Cristina (1901–1953), married Francis John Clarence
Westenra Plantagenet Hastings, known as Viscount Hastings and later the 16th
Earl of Huntingdon; they had one child, Lady Moorea Hastings (4 March 1928 – 21
October 2011), and divorced in 1943. The following year the Viscountess
Hastings married Wogan Philipps; that marriage produced no children.
Luisa
Casati's only grandchild, Lady Moorea Hastings, was the wife of politician and
diarist Woodrow Wyatt from 1957 to 1966, and later married the adman Brinsley
Black, named as one of the best-dressed Englishmen in the inaugural issue of
Men in Vogue in 1965. She had a son with each husband:
The Hon.
Pericles Plantagenet James Casati Wyatt (born 1963), became an owner and
operator of water parks and recreational-vehicle camps in Arizona; half-brother
to journalist Petronella Wyatt.
Octavius
Black (Octavius Orlando Irvine Casati Black, born 1968), the founder of The
Mind Gym, a mind-development system based in London;.
Moorea
Hastings was so unmaternal that, on learning she was pregnant, she arranged
with her first husband that childless cousins of his would care for the baby.
When Wyatt later sued for divorce on grounds of her adultery, he was,
unusually, given full custody of the child.
Muse and
patroness
Casati was
known for her eccentricities that delighted European society for nearly three
decades. The beautiful and extravagant hostess to the Ballets Russes was
something of a legend among her contemporaries. She astonished society by
parading with a pair of leashed cheetahs and wearing live snakes as jewellery.
She
captivated artists and literary figures such as Robert de Montesquiou, Romain
de Tirtoff (Erté), Jean Cocteau, and Cecil Beaton.[citation needed] She had a
long term affair with the author Gabriele d'Annunzio, who is said to have based
on her the character of Isabella Inghirami in Forse che si forse che no (Maybe
yes, maybe no) (1910).[citation needed] The character of La Casinelle, who
appeared in two novels by Michel Georges-Michel, Dans la fete de Venise (1922)
and Nouvelle Riviera (1924), was also inspired by her.
In 1910,
Casati took up residence at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on Grand Canal in
Venice, owning it until circa 1924, in 1949, Peggy Guggenheim purchased the
Palazzo from the heirs of Viscountess Castlerosse and made it her home for the
following thirty years, it is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a modern art
museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro sestiere of Venice, Italy.
Casati's
soirées there would become legendary. Casati collected a menagerie of exotic
animals, and patronized fashion designers such as Fortuny and Poiret. From 1919
to 1920 she lived at Villa San Michele in Capri, the tenant of the unwilling
Axel Munthe. Her time on the Italian island, tolerant home to a wide collection
of artists, gay men, and lesbians in exile, was described by British author
Compton Mackenzie in his diaries.
Numerous
portraits were painted and sculpted by artists as various as Giovanni Boldini,
Paolo Troubetzkoy, Adolph de Meyer,[14] Romaine Brooks (with whom she had an
affair), Kees van Dongen, and Man Ray; many of them she paid for, as a wish to
"commission her own immortality".[citation needed][citation needed]
She was muse to Italian Futurists such as F. T. Marinetti (who regarded her as
a Futurist) Fortunato Depero, Giacomo Balla (who created the portrait-sculpture
Marchesa Casati with Moving Eyes), and Umberto Boccioni. Augustus John's
portrait of her is one of the most popular paintings at the Art Gallery of
Ontario; Jack Kerouac wrote poems about it and Robert Fulford was impressed by
it as a schoolboy.[citation needed]
By 1930,
Casati had amassed a personal debt of $25 million. As she was unable to pay her
creditors, her personal possessions were auctioned off. Designer Coco Chanel
was reportedly one of the bidders.
Casati fled
to London, where she lived in comparative poverty in a one-room flat. She was
rumoured to be seen rummaging in bins searching for feathers to decorate her
hair. On 1 June 1957, Casati died of a stroke at her last residence, 32
Beaufort Gardens in Knightsbridge, aged 76. Following a requiem mass at
Brompton Oratory, the Marchesa was interred in Brompton Cemetery.
She was
buried wearing her black and leopard skin finery and a pair of false eyelashes.
She was also interred with one of her beloved stuffed pekinese dogs. Her
tombstone is a small grave marker in the shape of an urn draped in cloth with a
swag of flowers to the front. The inscription on the tombstone, which misspells
her "Louisa" rather than "Luisa", is inscribed with the
quote, "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite
variety", from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.
Characters
based on Casati were played by Vivien Leigh in the play, La Contessa (1965) and
by Ingrid Bergman in the movie, A Matter of Time (1976).
In 1998,
John Galliano based his spring/summer Christian Dior collection on her. Gowns
from this collection have been displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fashion Institute. Casati served as inspiration for another of Galliano's ensembles
created for his autumn/winter 2007/2008 Bal des Artistes haute couture
collection for Dior.
Designer
Alexander McQueen's spring/summer 2007 collection was inspired by Casati.
Casati is
also the namesake of the Marchesa fashion house started by British designers
Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig.
In May
2009, Karl Lagerfeld debuted his 2010 Cruise-wear collection on the Lido in
Venice, for which Casati was once again a major muse. In February 2016, London
based designer Omar Mansoor mused his autumn winter collection on Casati at
London Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.
In 2013,
Italian publisher Rizzoli Libri published biographical graphic novel La Casati:
La musa egoista by artist Vanna Vinci. Translation has been published by
Dargaud in France. English translation has been available from Europe Comics
since 2015 with the title Casati: The Selfish Muse.
In 2020,
Italian rapper Achille Lauro dressed as Casati for his performance at the most
important musical competition in Italy, the Sanremo Music Festival.
The Marchesa Luisa Casati
For the
first three decades of the twentieth century, the fabled Marchesa Luisa Casati
(1881-1957) triumphed as the brightest star in European society. Possibly the
most artistically represented woman in history after the Virgin Mary and
Cleopatra, the portraits, sculptures and photographs of her would fill a
gallery. In a quest for immortality, she had herself painted by Giovanni
Boldini, Augustus John, Kees Van Dongen, Romaine Brooks and Ignacio Zuloaga; sketched
by Drian, Alberto Martini and Alastair; sculpted by Giacomo Balla, Catherine
Barjansky and Jacob Epstein; and photographed by Man Ray, Cecil Beaton and
Baron Adolph de Meyer. She frightened Artur Rubinstein, angered Aleister
Crowley and intimidated T.E. Lawrence. As muse to the Italian futurists F. T.
Marinetti, Fortunato Depero and Umberto Boccioni, she conjured up an elaborate
marionette show with music by Maurice Ravel. Accompanied by her pet boa
constrictor, she checked into the Ritz Hotel in Paris, where it escaped.
Considered the original female dandy, Léon Bakst, Paul Poiret, Mariano Fortuny
and Erté dressed her. She adorned herself with the jewels of Lalique and
directly inspired the famed 'Panther' design for Cartier. Her parties and appearances
at others became legendary–at one celebration in her Venetian palazzo, Nijinsky
invited Isadora Duncan to dance; Picasso attended a soirée at her Roman villa;
while she costumed herself as a living artwork inspired by Dalí for another.
She was a subject of intrigue to Marcel Proust and the Comte Robert de
Montesquiou. She whirled through Parisian nightlife, making an unforgettable
impression on Colette, Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel. She was the only
woman ever to astonish her lover Gabriele D'Annunzio, one of Italy's most
notorious and revolutionary writers.
Nude
servants gilded in gold leaf attended her. Bizarre wax mannequins sat as guests
at her dining table, some of them even rumoured to contain the ashes of past
lovers. She wore live snakes as jewellery and was infamous for her evening
strolls, naked beneath her furs whilst parading cheetahs on diamond-studded
leashes. Everywhere she went, she set trends, inspired genius and astounded
even the most jaded members of the international aristocracy. Without question,
the Marchesa Casati was the most scandalous woman of her day.
All the
while, Luisa journeyed wherever her fancy took her–Venice, Rome, Paris,
Capri–collecting palaces and a menagerie of exotic animals and spending
fortunes on lavish masquerades. Frequently blurring gender lines–as well as
those separating the human and extraordinary–her progressive personal aesthetic
made her a legend throughout the continent. She was tall and thin. A thick
blaze of flame-coloured hair crowned her pale, almost cadaverously white face
with its sensually vermilioned lips. Above all, however, the Marchesa’s large
green eyes cast the strongest spell of her unique beauty. She exaggerated these
further still with immense false lashes and surrounding rings of black kohl,
while droplets of poisonous belladonna made them glitter like emeralds. It’s no
wonder she caused a press sensation during a sojourn in the United States
during the 1920's that featured stays in New York City and Hollywood. So
intriguing was her fantastic persona, Casati also influenced playwrights and
filmmakers both during and after her lifetime. Characters based specifically
and more loosely on her came to be portrayed by such legendary actresses as
Theda Bara, Tallulah Bankhead, Vivien Leigh, Valentina Cortese, Elizabeth
Taylor and Ingrid Bergman. The lore of her riveting gaze even inspired famed
American writers Ezra Pound, Tennessee Williams and Jack Kerouac.
There would
be those who would accuse her of conducting an utterly frivolous life as
Europe’s most decadent hostess. But in truth, Luisa had a passion of a much
more serious nature–the commissioning of her own immortality.
The
Marchesa Casati achieved this by seeking out and patronizing the talents of
both experienced and novice artists. Her only requirement of them was a
daringness of vision, capable of transforming their muse in constantly new
ways. And consequently, Casati would come to distinguish herself in a way
significantly different from similarly privileged women also rendered by the
day's most important society portraitists. For unlike them, the Marchesa
remained actively involved in the lives, minds and movements of the artists
capturing her incredible image. Many of their careers first obtained
recognition through her generous patronage, and this often included a valuable
friendship or romantic affair. Casati's tireless pursuit of the vanguard in
everything would allow her to satisfy an endless yearning for novel experiences
and fresh audiences.
Casati
remained a loyal patron or simply an inspirational icon to innumerable artists
on more than one continent for nearly thirty years–forever offering her
considerable wealth, influence and ideas to a legion of painters, sculptors,
photographers and fashion designers. In addition to those already mentioned, a
partial list includes: Federico Beltran Masses, Jacques-Émile Blanche, Umberto
Brunelleschi, Vittorio Matteo Corcos, Guiglio de Blaas, Natalia Gontcharova,
Paul-César Helleu, Roberto Montenegro, Gustav Adolf Mossa, Lotte Pritzel, José
Maria Sert, Prince Paul Troubetzkoy and Madeleine Vionnet.
All the
while, the Marchesa established several dreamlike homes, each designed to her
exacting and high-priced tastes. In Venice, there was the Palazzo dei Leoni on
the Grand Canal–a fabulous half-ruin, its gardens set ablaze with enormous
Chinese lanterns, where albino blackbirds trilled overhead and pet cheetahs
prowled along twisting pathways below. Years later, this same building would be
purchased by Peggy Guggenheim to become The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the
most important museum in Italy for European and American art of the first half
of the 20th century. Just outside of Paris lay the Palais Rose–the Marchesa's
fantastic mansion built of red marble, featuring a detached pavilion converted
into a private art gallery where Luisa housed more than one hundred and thirty
images of herself. She summered on Capri at the famous Villa San Michele where
she startled even the most bohemian of the island's residents with a thoroughly
non-conformist lifestyle. Even so, although the masquerade balls given and the
paintings commissioned seemed endless, Luisa's fortunes were not.
By 1930,
Casati had amassed a debt the equivalent of twenty-five million U.S. dollars.
Unable to satisfy countless creditors, her personal possessions were
confiscated and auctioned off, including numerous original artworks of her.
Today, many of these works remain untraceable or in private collections. Casati
then fled to London to lead the next two decades in markedly less grand
conditions than those enjoyed as a continental celebrity. But even so, her
indomitable spirit remained undimmed as she went on to amaze a new set of
admirers. On 1 June 1957, Luisa Casati died at 32 Beaufort Gardens, her final
residence. She was seventy-six years old. Following a requiem mass at Brompton
Oratory, the Marchesa was interred in Brompton Cemetery, with one of her
taxidermed Pekinese dogs resting at her feet. In Antony and Cleopatra,
Shakespeare evokes the lure of the unforgettable Egyptian queen by declaring:
'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.' This fitting
tribute is inscribed upon Casati's gravestone.
As she
would surely have desired, the Marchesa’s substantial artistic and cultural
legacy continues to be recognized to this very day. Major artworks of and
inspired by her continue to provide provocative centrepieces for important
exhibitions worldwide. Of major relevance today is Casati's innovative fashion
sense, which remains a constant resource for major and fledgling designers
everywhere. These include most notably John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Tom Ford,
Alexander McQueen, Alberta Ferretti, and Dries Van Noten.
From the original
1999 publication of Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa
Casati to the autumn 2017 release of its ‘Ultimate Edition’, as well as the now
sold-out The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse, the only full-length,
family-authorised and official biographies of this fascinating woman, Casati’s
incredible life story has been preserved for and kept vividly alive in this
millennium.
SPECIAL NOTICES
In autumn
2019, Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati celebrated twenty
years in print—a rarity in book publishing of any kind. As a result of the
continuous activity surrounding this biography and related projects, the
Marchesa Luisa Casati's position has been fully regained as an icon celebrated
by long-admiring and new audiences everywhere.
Infinite
Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati (The Ultimate Edition) is
available! Official biographers Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Yaccarino
have completely revised, updated and expanded the text with an additional dozen
years of intense research since the publication of the most recent
English-language edition. The hardcover book is illustrated with stunning
imagery, some being seen for the very first time. Prepare to be astonished!
Announcing
the forthcoming 2020 publication of the Swedish language translation of
Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati from Alastor
Press, the premier publishers of Decadent literature in Scandinavia. This
promises to be an edition as sumptuous as its subject!
The
photo-portrait of the Marchesa Casati in a fountain dress made of wire and
lights by couturier Paul Poiret at masquerade ball in 1924 appears in the
catalogue for the exhibition 'Schall und Rauch: Die wilden Zwanziger' at the
Kunsthaus Zürich in Zürich, Switzerland (April 24-July 19, 2020).
Launching
in Taiwan in December 2019, Cartier is giving a two-year traveling exhibition
celebrating the Panthère collection, the French luxury house's most emblematic
design directly inspired by the Marchesa Casati. Included in the presentation
is a state-of-the-art digital book in which is shown an artwork reproduction of
La Casati strolling with her pet cheetahs. Developing.
Two
photo-portraits of the Marchesa Casati dressed as Empress Elisabeth of Austria
shot by Man Ray appeared in an exhibition on the famed American photographer's
fashion work at the Musée Cantini in Marseille (November 8, 2019-March 8,
2020).
The
Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse is now completely sold-out! This deluxe
coffee-table book features an entirely different biographical text than
Infinite Variety, Casati biographers Ryersson and Yaccarino's essential work on
the subject, along with an unparalleled treasury of images.
The
photo-portrait of the Marchesa Casati with a favorite pet boa constrictor
wrapped around her appears in the catalogue for the exhibition 'Animalia
Fashion' at the Museo della Moda e del Costume at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence
(January 18, 2019-May 3, 2019).
The
stunning 1925 pastel portrait by Alberto Martini of the Marchesa Casati
resplendent in a golden suit of armor in the guise of the Renaissance nobleman
Cesare Borgia was on-view alongside an astonishing ensemble inspired by it from
designer John Galliano at the exhibition 'Dior: From Paris to the World' at the
Denver Art Museum (November 2018-March 2019).
The
notorious 1920 portrait of La Casati by painter Romaine Brooks was on view as
part of the exhibit 'Modern Couples: Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde' at the
Barbican Art Gallery in London (October 2018-January 2019).
British
designer Anthony Moorhouse (The Elvish Tailor) premiered his Casati-inspired
autumn/winter 2018 artisan couture collection in October 2018. See the
collection here.
A
photo-portrait of a snake-entwined Marchesa Casati was on view for the Serpenti
exhibition at The New Curiosity Shop, Bulgari's concept ultra-luxe boutique in
Rome (May-November 2018).
The rarely
publically displayed 1908 portrait of the Marchesa Casati by Giovanni Boldini
from the private collection of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was one of the star
attractions at the exhibition 'High Society: Four Centuries of Glamour' at The
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (April-June 2018).
Two
photo-portraits of the Marchesa by celebrated American artist Man Ray were on
view at an exhibition at Kunstforum Wien in Vienna (February-June 2018).
La Casati
was celebrated as inspirational muse to legendary American fashion designer
Normal Norell who was the subject of an exhibition at The Museum at FIT in New
York City (February-April 2018).
Legendary
Burlesque Queen and style icon Dita Von Teese chose Infinite Variety as one of
her most cherished books and inspirations behind the creation of one of her
perfume scents.
The
Autumn/Winter 2017/18 Ready-to-Wear collection by designer Bill Gaytten for
John Galliano was completely inspired by the Marchesa.
The
Marchesa Casati is discussed extensively in the new book The Unfinished
Palazzo: Life, Love and Art in Venice by Judith Mackrell as one of the three
extraordinary women who made famous the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand
Canal.
The
Autumn/Winter 2016/17 Collection by legendary designer Alberta Ferretti was
inspired by Casati.
The
Autumn/Winter 2016/17 prêt-à-porter collection by renowned designer Dries Van
Noten was in homage to Casati and her love affair with Gabriele D'Annunzio.
Illustrated
by famed designer Christian Lacroix, the new book Fashion Quotes: Stylish Wit
& Catwalk Wisdom by Patrick Mauriès and Jean-Christophe Napias features a
quote by La Casati on how to avoid a major fashion faux pas.
From March
10-May 8, 2016, Casati was celebrated in the exhibition 'SerpentiForm' by
Bulgari on serpent-inspired jewelry held at the Palazzo Braschi (Roma).
For winter
2014/2015, Jeroen Oude Sogtoen and Maison Mona di Orio unveiled the first
fragrance inspired exclusively by La Casati.
During
autumn/winter 2014/2015, the Fortuny Museum (Venice) gave the first major
exhibition celebrating the Marchesa Casati's artistic and culture legacy.
In 2014,
Meike Kopp and Manifest Destiny released the now sold-out, uniquely designed
and scented, award-winning luxury candle lit by Luisa's dark allure.
At the 2014
Ashmolean Museum (Oxford University) exhibition A Bestiary of Jewels, Britain's
leading artist-goldsmith Kevin Coates unveiled A Snake for Casati, a
one-of-a-kind brooch constructed of precious materials. Click Here to see a
short film by Nel Romano on the artist's work and the exhibition. Click Here to
see A Snake for Casati and read the exhibition catalogue entry on it written by
the artist.
In 2004,
Katrina Markoff and Vosges Haut-Chocolat first unveiled a limited-edition
chocolate truffle celebrating Casati's passionate taste for the exotically
decadent. Featured in the New York Times and AnOther Magazine among many
others, this divine treat sold out completely every year it was offered. In
2011, Markoff released the Black Salt Caramel Exotic Candy Bar. This
still-available confectionary tribute to Casati won the 2011 Gold Sofi Award
for Chocolate given by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.
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