La comtesse de Gruffulhe or what to wear to an apotheosis

La comtesse by Helleu
all images Palais Galliera, musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris

Elisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay,

La comtesse de Greffulhe, 

This grande dame has appeared in these pages once before, she who inspired Proust for the character of the duchesse de Guermantes in Remembrance of Things Past. Despite the novelist's immortalization, she hadn't been a personality much in view. But these days my post is being clicked on wildly all because of a certain exhibit about her very wonderous wardrobe. 

I had written about the Comtesse Greffulhe with for starting point a fait divers concerning 

her home. Her monumental apartment as seen during WW II, was a phantom ship during war days. It was so difficult to heat that she had René Prou design a small, utilitarian cabin that was plunked smack dab in the middle of her fine salon with its moldings and towering ceilings 

just so she could keep warm. 

Élisabeth de Caraman-Chimay 1860-1952 

photo Otto Wegener 

And here she is, 

staring out of a photograph that was unknown to me before from the exhibit poster -bien emmitouflée- all wrapped up in a coquettish way that has the immense charm of the unexpected from a woman of her rank straight out of the Belle Epoque. 

Clearly, she the comtesse de Gruffulhe never liked to be cold!

photo Otto Wegener 

A sense of mise en scene.

If I had read about her before, studied her a bit, I hadn't realized just how important her own image was to her before seeing the revealing exhibit at the Palais Gallièra,  La mode retrouvée: les robes trésors de la comtesse de Greffulhe -

photo by Paul Nadar

 nor how calculated it all was.

Her extensive use of photography can only be compared to that of the Comtesse de Castiglione, that other image-controling comtessse who was her elder by 23 years. If the fascinating comtesse of Castiglione was melodramatic, la Greffulhe played more in the register of subtlety and refinement. And as a reigning queen of the social scene, she staged her performances with a perfectionist's sense of detail in her costumes. She would arrive late, limit the time of her appearances in breath-taking toilettes that were out-of-time and place, then disappear. What is precious is rare! As for the photographs, they were mostly for herself - and posterity. She framed them for her home, but gave away very few.

© Pierre Antoine

Her wardrobe was the cornerstone of her persona. All the trips to all the best couture houses of the time were more to assure, she said, of what she would not wear, Worth often worked with her  to create the gowns she felt suited her best, and peu importe if no one else was wearing a princess bodice those days.  One dress by Worth was cut from a giant-scale Renaissance patterned silk velvet; he also devised a cape with the gift from the Czar Nicolas II of a Bokhara brocade. The Comtesse was eccentric, strange but always distinguished.

 The exhibit also demonstrates a certain penchant for Fortuny and Babani.

Robert de Montesquiou by Boldoni source Wikicommons

Robert de Montesquiou, also proustified as Charlus, was a true kindred spirit. This uncle of very nearly her same age, encouraged the young Elisabeth in her obsession with finery and in carving out her own style.  As Alexandra Bosc states in the exhibit catalogue, it is probable that, like dandies of the day, Countess Greffulhe attached metaphysical value to the elegance of dress, seeing in this "cult of self" the manifestation of her inner being,

© Pierre Antoine

"Mirror, mirror on the wall..."

Baudelaire said in Le Peintre et la vie moderne that she had
"a burning need to be an original."

The label of his fur-trimmed gown of gold brocade reads Worth, but it was actually designed by the young Paul Poiret when he was employed by that couture house. I recall from reading Poiret's memoirs that he, for one, did not appreciate this client. The Comtesse wore this opulent robe Byzantine to her daughter's wedding at La Madeleine
to which she contrived to arrive early,
that is, before the bride was present.
The papers of the day cooed that it was hard to judge which young lady was to be married and described the gold gown in minute detail hardly mentioning the wedding dress.

It must have been unbearably hot to be the daughter of such an original at times.

© Pierre Antoine

Marcel Proust, however, looked on the Comtesse, imperfect and narcissistic in her search for perfection - with awe and tolerance. Had she found a way to deal with the deception that came so quickly after her marriage and her husband's outlandish philandering? To Henry Greffulhe, she was a trophy, but the hunt was what mattered the most. Mr Proust wrote her a letter from which there is just this thought provoking snippet in the exhibit catalogue,

et je sais tout ce qu'il peut y avoir de héroïsme dans la  beauté

and I know all there can be of heroism in beauty.

dress from 1925 couturier unknown
Metallic lace forms an Egyptian inspired pattern

So she always dressed with care throughout her life,

© Pierre Antoine

 turning to
Jeanne Lanvin, Nina Ricci, Maggy Rouff... and the color black.

photo rmn

Reports say that the Comtesse stayed supple and svelte through yoga and healthful lifestyle, always seeking to improve herself physically, mentally and spiritually. All this is not to say that Elisabeth Greffulhe thought only of bettering herself. She was utterly devoted to music and was a strong patron of the arts. She supported scientific advancement and charitable causes of her time. She also founded a Spiritualist institute that still active today.

© Pierre Antoine
gown by Worth

The scenography takes a daring turn and goes so far as to suggest the Comtesse Greffulhe's death.  Her earthly body is replaced by a gown laid upon a bier; it is so fresh, so tender - dare I say, young? -  she has become a dress of chiffon and taffeta decorated with orchids.

I wonder if she also wore Worth's scent, Je reviens?

photo La style et la matière

Elisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay,

La comtesse de Greffuhle 

1860-1952

© Julien Vidal / Galliera / Roger-Viollet
 images Palais Galliera, musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris
gown by A. Beauchez 

and resurrected in 2016

... une grâce qui trouble à l’égal d'une émotion artistique. Toutes les choses s'adoucissent autour d'elle en une délicieuse âme qui résume dans les plis de sa robe.

...a grace no less disturbing than an artistic emotion. Every thing around her sweetens in a delicious spirit that can be summed up in the folds of her dress.
Portrait de Madame
Marcel Proust

La mode retrouvée: les robes trésors de la comtesse de Greffuhle

The exhibit will travel to New York's FIT museum in September 2016

see also:

 the catalogue of the exhibit beautiful and fascinating here 

La comtesse Greffulhe : L'ombre des Guermantes by Laure Hillerin

La comtesse Greffulhe by Anne de Cossé Brissac

all images Palais Galliera, musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris
except where noted

chez la Comtesse Greffulhe

The season advances. Once again snow has smoothed out the wrinkles in our landscape and given a more gentle edge to once crisply outlined  trees and buildings. Snow is a beautiful sight, dépaysant, because it transforms our world for a certain time. This is a cold winter for Paris but not as cold as in 1942 when temperatures went down to -14°C (6.8°F).

What can be found for the Home-that-has-Everything in the winter of 1942?

The cold reality is that grand residences were impossible to heat because of restrictions during WWII and though one might be wealthy with the most splendid of apartments, the chilling weather spared no one. In fact, it was a definite disadvantage to have such large, luxurious rooms to heat. Necessity being the mother of invention, René Prou turned his back on le luxe and designed this warming cabin to permit heat and light for visits, reading, homework, meals - basic living. Thrift and good sense dictated even the lopping off of extraneous corners of the cabin, making heating more economical. The diagram does show the incorporation of a telephone and a transistor so not to be cut off from the world.

Among René Prou's many stylish art deco designs for furiture and interiors were dining cars for the Orient Express. This example is far cry from the strict utilitarian wheel-less cabin above. (The Orient Express, as of December 2009, is no more! Taking time for luxury to this extent is out of pace with today's world.)

Here is the Comtesse Greffulhe graciously demonstrating the convenince of her cabin in 1942. She ventures out into her hotel particulier in the 8-10 rue d'Astorg judiciously wrapped in fur and warm hat as if she were already in open air. Her enormous home was made by uniting several buildings and was known by Parisians of the day as "the Vatican" !

In posing for a magazine, she seems to take philosophically her camp-out in the salon of one of her glorious homes and stresses the ingenious side of the invention.

photographs by Nadar

I have no evidence that the Comtesse ever succombed to other designs by René Prou. All reports seem to speak only of 18 th and 19 th century furnishings in the Greffulhe collections which were mostly her husband's enterprise. Much of their collection was auctioned in 2000, including a remarkable carved goldleaf chair signed Jacob which had belonged to Marie-Antoinette. The chair went for four times its estimated price and found its way back to the collections of the chateau de Versailles.

portrait Walter Musée Galliera

Élisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay

of Belgian father and French mother Marie de Montesquiou Fezensac,

 was one of the most charming, intelligent, and beautiful women of her day.

Her many talents include painting, photography which she learned with Paul Nadar, and perhaps above all - music. Par the intermediary of her cousin Robert de Montesquiou, she was introduced to Gustave Moreau and Antonio de La Gandara and would help to popularize the art of Gabriel Fauré and Whistler. She also supported the pioneering scientific work of Pierre and Marie Curie.

portrait by Helleu

She is said never to have been pleased by her portraits and never to have given away her photograph to her many admirers. Robert de Montesquiou, perhaps her greatest admirer, resorted to secreting away a sketch of her chin by La Gandara from the artist's studio, and used to contemplate it untiringly from his bathtub.

The comtesse is also said to be the principal inspiration for Proust's Duchesse de Guermantes.

portrait by de Laszlo

“Madame la vicomtesse Greffulhe sera chez elle les jeudis”

With these words, the Comtesse de Greffulhe engraved her cards to receive the intellectual, artistic, and political elite in one of the most select salons of the Belle Epoque.


Proust speaks of Mme de Guermantes and the institution of the salon and we easily imagine
Elisabeth de Greffuhle:

"For instance at the Princesse de Parme’s parties there were a number of people whom her Royal Highness invited because she had known them as children, or because they were related to some duchess, or attached to the person of some Sovereign, they themselves being quite possibly ugly, boring or stupid; ... but Mme de Guermantes, who had politely acknowledged their bows for ten years at the Princesse de Parme’s, had never once allowed them to cross her threshold, considering that the same rule applies to a salon in a social sense as in a material sense of the word--- that is, to have furnishings one doesn't care for, but are left as so much filling and reminders of wealth, is enough to make it hideous. Such a salon is like a book in which the author could not refrain from the use of language to flaunt his knowledge, brillance, fluency. 
As with a book, so with a house, the quality of a "salon", thought Mme de Geurmantes -- and rightly --is based on a corner-stone of sacrifice."

Le Côté de Guermantes

A drawing of Chimay, the family chateau in Belgium by the hand of Elizabeth -
one of her many dwellings as a child.

The comtesse is associated with many imposing homes that would have been a challenge to heat!

Villa La Case, Dieppe, constucted in the Anglo-Normand style.was acquired in 1887 

by her father-in-law as a gift to the couple.

Château de Bois-Boudran to the east of Paris (Seine-et-Marne).

To the Comtesse's regret, the hunting season brought the couple here from September to January.

Curiosity: The splendid Regency boiseries of the salon that surrounded the scintillating atmosphere for many worldly and artistic gatherings were dismantled from Bois-Boudran in 1954 (two years after the death of the Comtesse Greffulhe) and found their way to Houston, Texas.

These panels are now part of the grand salon of the hotel La Colombe d'Or.

"Built in 1923, the Fondren Mansion is a distinguished Texas historical landmark. As home to the World's Smallest Luxury Hotel, La Colombe d'Or epitomizes Southern French hospitality, elegance, and warmth."

Sources:
rue d'Astorg apophtegme
Wikipedia
Journal des arts artclair.com
Balade littéraire avec Proust à Paris terre des ecrivains
La Comtesse Greffulhe by Anne de Cossé Brissac
Le coté des Guermantes
Images de France