Gabriële
The art world of 1908 Paris is thrumming with pent-up energy. About to be born is abstract, modernist art through an avant-garde revolution proclaiming that art is idea, not imitation. In this pulsating world of change, Gabriële Buffet finds her place. Schooled in compositional music, unmoored and unmarried, Gabriële is a force unto herself. It is in Paris that she meets Francis Picabia, a Spanish-born artist raised in France who throws off his Impressionist art strokes when he meets Gabriële. She becomes his muse, his confidante, and his partner, and together they set off to change the art world. But Francis is erratic, impulsive, and chaotic. His life swings from periods of frenzied art-making to utter lethargy. And into this already volatile mix comes Marcel Duchamp, another inspired art revolutionary. The three of them, Gabriële, Francis, and Marcel, bolster, encourage, and inspire each other to new heights of artistic ideas and expression.
This novelized account of the life of Gabriële is written by her great-granddaughters, who did not know her. Their effort to learn and write her story took them three years of researching extant letters, scouring archives, and interviewing historians and relatives. Claiming not to be historians themselves, they have imagined what her thoughts may have been throughout the recorded events of her life. They also forthrightly acknowledge that her indifference and lack of connection to her own children played a role in family estrangement. Given her non-conformity and the constant turbulence of her own life, her great-granddaughters have produced a masterful portrait of a boldly intelligent but also determinedly self-erasing woman. This book is sure to appeal to any reader looking to explore the alternating currents of revolutionary change in the world of art in the early 20th century and how they played out in one woman’s life.
