When Paris was for Lesbians:  the Women who Made Modernism

Professor Andrew Lear is a world-renowned expert on sexuality in art and the author of the best-known book on sexuality in Greek vase-painting.  He is the founder of Oscar Wilde Tours, the gay history tour company, and Shady Ladies Tours, the woman's history tour company.

Andrew Lear

Learn about the lesbian heroines of modernism, the women who forged new, modern paths for women and fostered the success of Modernism.

<p><strong><em>Can&#x27;t make the live event?  No problem, you can watch the event at your convenience for 2 weeks.</em></strong></p><p>My talk today takes a fresh look at lesbo celebrities in Paris between the wars and focuses on the significance of their patronage in fostering the success of the giants of modernism; James Joyce, Matisse, Picasso, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virgil Thompson among others. I will cover such women as Gertrude Stein, Eva Palmer, Renee Vivian, Colette, Ida Rubinstein, Adrienne Monnier, Sylvia Beach, Bryher, H.D, Lily de Gramont, Winneretta Singer, each of whom forged a separate way of being courageous in the brave new worlds they helped create for themselves and those they supported financially, spiritually, and creatively.</p><p> Perhaps the most important node of these worlds was Natalie Barney&#x27;s legendary “Fridays,” held at 20 Rue Jacob from 1909 until her death, in 1972, at the age of 95, which promoted modernity and represented a high point in Sapphic creativity. But there were also meeting and greeting places in Montmartre catering exclusively to ladies like the Monocle club, and swanky apartments belonging to the left bank intelligentsia where amorous women engaged freely, passionately, and sexually in the erotic arts.</p><p> Barney’s <em>Aventures de l’esprit</em> (1929) embodies the spirit of the age, adventurous and experimental. Djuna Barnes’ <em>Ladies Almanac</em> details Natalie’s polyamorous relationships as well as her commitment to long term lovers Lily de Gramont and Romaine Brooks that embodies the new lifestyle, breaking out of gender and sexual norms for women.</p><p> Bertha Harris once quipped that in the 1920s “to be upper class was at its finest to be lesbian and to be lesbian was at its finest to be upper class.”  This talk will introduce you to the ultimate upper class of that upper class:  the lesbian artistic community of Paris between the wars.</p>

<p> Cassandra Langer is best known for her books, <em>Mother and Child in Art, Feminist Art Criticism:  an annotated bibliography, and What's Right with Feminism</em>.  She became the accidental <a href="https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5004.htm" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">biographer of Romaine Books </a>(1874-1970) when a search to uncover the artist's aesthetics led her to rethink the flawed narrative of Brooks' life.  She  maintains a Romaine Brooks fan page and group on Facebook. Learn more at  <a href="https://cassandralanger.com" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://Cassandralanger.com </a>.
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<h2>FAQs</h2><h3>When will the Zoom invite come?</h3><p>The Zoom invite will be in the CONFIRMATION EMAIL from your order—IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE IT IN YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL PLEASE MESSAGE US IMMEDIATELY. Subsequent to this, the Zoom invite will be sent to your email address at 48hrs, 2hrs, and 10mins before the event. PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM AND SOCIAL FOLDERS IF YOU DO NOT SEE THE ZOOM INVITE IN YOUR INBOX.</p><h3>If I can't make the live recording, can I watch the event at another time?</h3><p>The event will be recorded, and all ticket holders will receive a link to the recording by email the evening after the presentation, with a password to access it.  It will be available to view for 2 weeks after the live event. If you do not receive the link to the recording a couple of hours after the live event please email us—sometimes Eventbrite emails can get lost in spam/social folders.</p><h3>What time zone is the event scheduled in?</h3><p>The event is scheduled for 2pm EST (i.e. New York time). You can watch it in any time zone but please adjust to the time zone you are in.</p><h3>Refund policy?</h3><p>Refunds are available up to the start time of the event. After the start time, refunds are only available if you have been unable to access the event.</p>

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When Paris was for Lesbians: the Women who Made Modernism

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When Paris was for Lesbians: the Women who Made Modernism

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