21 Apr Portrait of Pianist Misia Sert
Misia Sert was an accomplished pianist–a student of Fauré’s, who helped her support herself by referring students to her, she also famously accompanied Caruso at parties when he sang Neapolitan songs.
But she was most famous as a salonnière, one of the women who ran Paris’ artistic and literary worlds from the 17th through the mid-20th centuries. And in this case, what a salon she had. Over her lifetime, regular attendees included Proust, Gide, Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Débussy, Ravel, Satie. Ravel dedicated pieces to her, and many of the painters did portraits of her, such as this one by Bonnard. Oh, and she was especially close friends with Diaghilev (of the Ballets Russes) and Coco Chanel!
