Twilight of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Picasso, Stravinsky, Proust, Renault, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, and Their Friends through the Great War

Belle Epoque Paris #2

by Mary McAuliffe

Mary McAuliffe's Dawn of the Belle Epoque took the reader from the multiple disasters of 1870-1871 through the extraordinary re-emergence of Paris as the cultural center of the Western world. Now, in Twilight of the Belle Epoque, McAuliffe portrays Paris in full flower at the turn of the twentieth century, where creative dynamos such as Picasso, Matisse, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, Proust, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, Jean Cocteau, and Isadora Duncan set their respective circles on fire with a barrage of revolutionary visions and discoveries. Such dramatic breakthroughs were not limited to the arts or sciences, as innovators and entrepreneurs such as Louis Renault, Andre Citroen, Paul Poiret, Francois Coty, and so many others--including those magnificent men and women in their flying machines--emphatically demonstrated. But all was not well in this world, remembered in hindsight as a golden age, and wrenching struggles between Church and state as well as between haves and have-nots shadowed these years, underscored by the ever-more-ominous drumbeat of the approaching Great War--a cataclysm that would test the mettle of the City of Light, even as it brutally brought the Belle Epoque to its close. Through rich illustrations and evocative narrative, McAuliffe brings this remarkable era from 1900 through World War I to vibrant life.

Genres: History, France, Nonfiction, Art, Biography, Art History, Music

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Mary McAuliffe holds a PhD in history from the University of Maryland, has taught at several universities, and lectured at the Smithsonian Institution. She has traveled extensively in France, and for many years she was a regular contributor to Paris Notes. Her books include Dawn of the Belle Epoque, Twilight of the Belle Epoque, When Paris Sizzled, Paris on the Brink, Clash of Crowns, and Paris Discovered. She lives in New York City with her husband.

Dawn of the Belle Epoque
Twilight of the Belle Epoque
When Paris Sizzled
Paris on the Brink
Clash of Crowns
Paris Discovered

Reviews

[Paul Ataua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary McAuliffe takes the reader on a Parisian journey through the years of 1900 to the beginning of the Great War focusing in on a whole host of celebrities. The list includes, among others, Picasso and Matisse in art, Isadora Duncan and Nijinsky in dance, Renault and Citroen in manufacture, Francois Coty and Coco Chanel in perfume and fashion, Ravel and Debussy in music, and Clemenceau and De Gaulle in matters of State. That is just the beginning of a cast of thousands in a book in which each chapter covers one year. The strange year by year organization is at times fascinating and at other times frustrating and there are times when it just bites off more than I could chew, and I eventually found myself skipping pages devoted to certain threads in the story. All in all, it’s a welcome history of a time in Paris when it seems just about everybody was famous for something.

[Jill H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can one short era of history have so many geniuses of the arts in one city? Mary McAuliffe leads us through the years of 1900 to the beginning of the Great War and what a trip it is!! The lives and works of these special people are covered, some in more detail than others, and I certainly learned new information with each turn of the page. It would take up too much space to identify all those artistes mentioned in this beautifully written history but they range from Isadora Duncan to Picasso to Ravel to deBussy to Proust.....and many others who set the styles of dress, dance, painting, sculpture and even perfume and automobiles.

The coming of the Great War changed the world forever and these pre-war years became enshrined in French memory as the Belle Epoque.....a golden time that would never return, a time that was dying and would be swept away by the war. The author captures the environment and ambiance of those years with a discerning eye and brings to life the colorful cast of the artistes in Paris. Highly recommended.

Incidentally,there is a prequel to this book, Dawn of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and Their Friends, which is next on my tbr list.

[Jaylia3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes it easy to get caught up in the intertwined lives of painters, composers, entrepreneurs, politicians, innovators, performers, and scientists from the later years of France’s Belle Epoque. After loving the first volume, Dawn of the Belle Epoque, I knew I had to read this title and was not disappointed.

Each chapter covers one year from 1900 to 1918--so through The Great War, WWI--with a rich mix of returning characters. We learn about the achievements, love affairs, feuds, ambitions, and failures of many luminaries of the age including Monet, Degas, Picasso, Matisse, Ravel, Louis Renault, Stravinsky, Charles De Gaulle, Debussy, Coco Chanel, Marcel Proust, Georges Clemenceau, Isadora Duncan, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, Jean Cocteau, André Citroën, Paul Poiret, François Coty, Nijinsky, Sarah Bernhardt, Dreyfus, and Diaghilev.

Among my favorite moments are Marie Curie and her family hiking with Einstein and his, Marcel Proust returning from an evening walk with shrapnel on his hat because though he was afraid of mice German air raids didn't scare him and he even found the lit up skies beautiful, and a determined young Charles De Gaulle captured by the Germans while serving in the French army managing to repeatedly escape from increasingly locked down POW fortifications only to be caught each time and returned to prison.

If you want depth on any particular individual you’ll have to go elsewhere but Twilight of the Belle Epoque provides a lively, fascinating, and surprisingly moving overview of the era and many of its most interesting people. I read an advanced copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

Caricature of Igor Stravinsky Playing The Rite of Spring — Jean Cocteau

[Bfisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It is effectively a year by year accounting of the lives of prominent Parisians over the period 1900-1918. I did like that the coverage extended through the WW1 years, although the Belle Epoque certainly ended with the coming of the war.

To me, it did reinforce what a disaster WW1 was to France, in a way that a recital of numbers cannot do- at a level where the wreckage of personal lives can be seen. Also, one sees the tremendous cultural richness of pre-WW1 Paris, the city of Picasso, Matisse, Chagal, Proust, Ravel, Debussey, Stravinsky, Gertrude Stein, Isadora Duncan; how they lead their lives and how their lives intersected.

There is also the Paris of scientific, technology and business innovation, the rise of Renault, Citron, Coty, the French aviation pioneers like Voisin and Bleriot, and Marie and Pierre Curve.

Unfortunately, because so many individuals are being followed through the period, it sometimes makes it a bit difficult to follow.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a kaleidoscope of famous names and fast-paced events of Parisian life in the beginning of the XX century. It covers a considerable period, so no wonder that there are a whole lot of characters, representing culture, science, politics etc.
It reminds me very much of "1913. The Year before the Storm". The difference, in my view, is that Illies focuses on the one year and aims on portraying the inevitability of imminent war, whereas Mary McAuliffe tells about how drastically lifestyle had been changing. She provides entertaining and insightful details about Picasso and his "gang", about Charles de Gaulle, Auguste Rodin, Jean Cocteau, Isadora Duncan, you name it.
For me this book was really useful and since it's the second in a series, I'm going to read the first and the third part.

[Luca Campobasso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely slower to read than the first book (Dawn of the belle epoque), it was interesting to me only for half the time. The quarrelling between compositors and Dancers was ok to read but far too detailed. Too little about painters to be honest, which in those years were quite prominent figures. It was exhausting to read for me, that's why only three stars, although the content deserve praise for the extensiveness of the research and number of sources.

[G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The individual sections are interesting and well written. I would have given it a higher review, however, there is only a minimal through thread between sections. Because of this odd format it reads like a series of blog posts from the year being discussed

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The period from 1900 to the outbreak of World War I saw an incredible flowering of the arts and sciences in Paris. The list of notable names from the era goes on and on, from Picasso to Proust, Marie Curie to Jean Cocteau, Citroen to Coty. Each and every one of them merits, and indeed usually has, a book all to him or herself. Known as the Belle Epoque, it was a magical time and Mary McAuliffe has researched it in painstaking detail. There’s no doubt the subject matter is of unending interest, and I read the book with complete fascination. But ultimately McAuliffe tries to include just too much, and the end result is overwhelming, not helped by the fact that each chapter covers one year, meaning that the text skips from one character to another in rapid succession so that it’s difficult to retain an overall sense of their progression. Eventually this constant switching between one person and another becomes irritating. And then there’s the language. McAuliffe is American and leaves us in no doubt of that. The text is scattered with Americanisms and slang, which are totally out of place in a work of serious history. There are “goodies to be nabbed”, “a passel”, the nowadays ubiquitous but deplorable “gotten”. And had Braque really “gagged” at his first sight of Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon? And when Cocteau “slugged” Poueigh’s lawyer, was he really “roughed up by the police”. I found this vocabulary really grated on me.
Although this is a panoramic study, beautifully illustrated, and well worth reading, it was nevertheless spoilt for me by the style. The disjointed narrative – although I can see why the author chose to tell the story in this way – takes away from the pleasure of learning about this diverse group of creative people, as you no sooner start to read about one than you’re on to the next.
However, McAuliffe is to be congratulated on her achievement in uncovering so much detail about these fascinating years, and also for covering the war years as well. Many other accounts stop in 1914 as if no creativity could exist during the war. All in all, in spite of its faults, this is essentially an absorbing and deeply interesting account of a deeply interesting period.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary McAuliffe has done a splendid job of portraying the atmosphere of Paris though this thoroughly researched series of vignettes of artists, musicians, dancers, dilettantes, writers, politicians. Although I'm not normally a fan of that style of narrative composition, usually finding it too disjointed to enjoy, I eventually fell into its rhythm. This book made me fall in love all over again with many of my own personal favorites.

[Ddoyle90 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating study of Paris and its inhabitants during the time period between the death of Victoria and the end of WWI. I read this over a month and a half not at one sitting as I do so many books. So many fascinating people, some I knew of; some I didn't. Artists, actors, composers, politicians and military figures; Russians, English, Americans, Parisians, and Germans all cross paths in Paris.

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the appearance of such giants as Cubism and Matisse in this period, there is something unsettlingly self-indulgent about the years before the War broke out. As Clemenceau said (1913): “Paris is gay, elegant, luxurious.... paris is now the important place for unimportant things.”

This book follows the same format as the initial volume. It is gossipy, anecdotal, and very readable.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent study of Paris' elite (mostly cultural), from 1900 through to 1918.

For a further review: http://susannag.booklikes.com/post/81... .

ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

[Jane De vries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative. So many genius levels, all together in Paris! Maurice Ravel, Picasso, Debussy, Stravinsky, etc. Seems hard to believe! But it also seems hard to believe that many personal lives were a total train wreck! Perhaps their pain became our gain!

[Ellen Cutler · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to the introduction, Mary McAuliffe produced “Twilight of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Picasso,Stravinsky, Proust, Renault, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, and Their Friendsthrough the Great War” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014) as a sort of conclusion to “Dawn of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and Their Friends.” What laundry-lists of titles. Her idea or that of her editor or publisher?

A number of those artists, writers, scientists and politicians feature prominently in both volumes. Many names seem synecdochal: Monet is shorthand for Impressionists; Gertrude Stein’s The Making of Americans nods at the complex ties between France and the United States; Marie Curie speaks to the commencement of the nuclear era and the equally explosive expansion of women’s rights.

I like this book. It is well organized, a mere twenty chapters moving the reader from 1900 to 1918. Each chapter focuses tightly on the lives and accomplishments of her primary cast of characters and the worlds they altered. While a cultural history like this tends to focus on the arts and humanities, McAuliffe makes space for technology (automotive entrepreneurs Fernand, Louis and Marcel Renault and André Citroën, and aviation pioneer Gabriel Voisin), fashion (couturiers Paul Poiret and to a lesser extent Coco Chanel, and cosmetics and perfume moguls François Coty and Helena Rubenstein) and politics (Georges Clemenceau and the very young Charles de Gaulle).

Then there are the rivalries, marriages and affairs that ensnarl the multitudes.

Indeed it is the incestuous quality of Belle Epoque society that makes of Twilight of the Belle Epoque a kind of erudite People Magazine. With the notable exception of the playwright George Bernard Shaw, there was nearly no male of artistic or cultural status—or wealth—with whom illustrious dancer Isadora Duncan did not sleep. Misia Godebska became Misia Natanson in the dawning of the era and during its twilight transforms in Misia Edwards when she marries the rich and predatory publisher of the newspaper Le Matin, and subsequently Misia Sert as wife of Spanish painter, José-Maria Sert. Throughout it all she was influential as a hostess and tastemaker and a notably pushy, and deep-pocketed—patron of modernism in all the arts. A close friend was the composer Maurice Ravel (famed to most of us for his 1928 ballet, Bolero) whom she met through her brother, Cipa Godebski and his wife. And Ravel is merely one degree of separation from the musical stars in that firmament: Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, and more.

Which, of course, brings us to the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballet Russes, his dancer-choreographers Vaslav Nijinsky and Léonine Massine, and competitors and collaborators including the poet Jean Cocteau and artist Pablo Picasso.

It is remarkable how McAuliffe manages this cast of thousands and their entangled narratives, as well as the larger context of a world moving toward and then through World War I. A few individuals die, of natural causes in old age, in accidents and from illness. One is left at the end, however, at the armistice announced at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, wondering about the next twenty or thirty years, the span that will take us through World War II and will impel the shift of modern culture from Paris to New York City as the Belle Epoque implodes in darkness.

[Mike Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've now completed both books in this sort-of-a-mini-series; "Dawn" and "Twilight" (and please don't make any sparkly vampire jokes.)

It really is an impossible task. So much happened over such a short span, even keeping the focus just on Paris and essentially on the artists, writers, and political figures (and a few scientists and inventors) who shaped and were shaped by this period still gives far too much to cover. It is a sprawling multi-generational epic that would give James Michener pause -- made all the worse because life never organizes itself quite as neatly as fiction.

I feel as if Mary McAuliffe has chosen one of the few plausible approaches; to go year by year, season by season and sometimes, event by event and pick up on the lives of a relatively select group of people. This does mean that when new people are added to the mix, there is quite a bit of back-story that has to be filled in, but it otherwise avoids the nigh-inevitable flipping-of-pages and consulting-of-references one has to do to keep track of when exactly something happened.

As in; "Was he inspired by this other artwork...hold on, let me see if that had been painted yet." And so on.

But this yearly check-in breaks up the stories perhaps too much. Worse, this "And what is the aging Victor Hugo doing this year?" approach makes for a bit of a "behind the music" affect; we see the artists penniless and we see them declared passé more than we see them at their creative peaks.

I sound like I am disparaging this book. I'm not. Between these two -- and, I suspect, with some of Mary McAuliffe's other work in addition -- you get a really good overview of what was happening and not just the key players, but something much harder to chart with any other reference; their interrelationships.

Because that was really what this time and place was about. This was the time of the cafes, late-night talks over cheap red wine on the Butte of Montmartre and the hottest gossip happening in the exclusive salons and soirees. Who met who, who influenced who; and the use of this overall timeline lets you see how the memories of the Paris Commune, the electrification of Paris, all the way up to the beginnings of the War shape the intellectual advances and the philosophical questions.

There is so much more that can be learned, and can be said, but I feel that with the help of these two books I now have at least a map to guide me.

[Micebyliz]

As dense and substantial as the "Dawn of...". My head is ballooned. I think i read in someone's review that a person is better off knowing a lot about the people profiled and the events discussed because it's a book that does not tell you every last detail of these things, it assumes you know quite a bit of history. There were a couple of names i did not know (oh horrors) but for the most part i did (whew!)
I'm forever fascinated that so many of these individuals knew each other and spent a good deal of their time together.
The terrible and tragic events they lived through both personally and in the wider world seem like so long ago, yet ones we have lived through and are currently experiencing are ones we will look back on (hopefully) in much the same way---to pick up where we left off and get on with our lives, maybe in a different way, but to get back to our daily routines in some way but not to forget what we've lost.
These artists left us such incredible legacies, more valuable as time passes, yet they really had no idea how their work would affect later generations. I remember the first time i saw a Renoir in person. Tears streamed down my face. i could not believe how beautiful it was. Much more than in a book or a reproduction. it's seared in my memory as if it were just the other day. Art to lift us out of ourselves and into other realms...

[Matteo Cordero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary McAuliffe's Dawn of the Belle Époque tells the story of Paris from 1871 until the outbreak of the First World War. The Belle Époque (translated from French as the beautiful age) refers to a period in the French capital characterized by positivist ideas, and technological, scientific, and cultural innovation. At that time different influential artists and innovators, such as Picasso and Marie Curie, and many others lived in Paris and contributed to making the Belle Époque an extraordinary period. Since 1871 Paris saw a Rapid and enormous modernization of the urbanistic structure of the city itself. In 1900 the Exposition universal gave the city enormous visibility and so Paris became one of the most important cities in the world at the time.

The author wrote the book in a sequence of different essays each with different stories for each character that contribute to Paris's life during that time.
I like the way how the book is made but I was not particularly interested in some of the persons that she has cited such as musicians and composers and some other writers that I was not part of my main interest. Apart from that, I found the majority of the text very fascinating. In particular, I have found the passages about Picasso, Matisse but also Marie Curie, and Renault very illuminating and interesting to understand this important period.

[Nora Huber · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the 20th century - those who were living through it thought it was the beginning of the end. Yet for the few who survived, they were thankful that they had lived to celebrate the end of the War to end all Wars. This is what is addictive about reading history - when we read it, we know what happened in the next decades. Authors like Mary McAuliffe brought it all to life with her detailed research and brilliant writing. It was so interesting to learn about the painters, musicians, writers, inventors, scientists and their loved ones, as they all navigated their lives in unimaginable poverty and for some, wealth. A more creative time one cannot imagine. It was truly The Belle Époque.

[Dvora Treisman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history of France from the turn of the century to the end of the First World War. I like how McAuliffe presents so many different characters from different walks of life chronologically so that you get a feeling for who was doing what all at the same time. The downside, as with her first book Dawn of the Belle Epoque, is that following the individuals is choppy. But you can't have it both ways. I was happy to learn where the Citroen symbol comes from, even if I don't really understand it.

[Miriam Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly detailed intertwined collective biography and history of the late Belle Epoque and the personalities identified in the subtitled.

Each chapter covers a year or two, testing the patience of listeners.

The book / audio book stands alone, although those unfamiliar with the period and personalities might want to read the in the series.

The performance is fluid, shifting to sharply accented French as needed (and expected).

For a review of the performance, see AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com

[Fernando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diverse Themes and Personalities

The strength and weakness of the work for me lies in the short sections around a given chapter’s subject that introduce and continue views on different personalities, ideologies, trends…Mostly works out, but I often found myself either lost in how something is suddenly introduced or by wishing the author has continued with the current section topic.

[Andrea Engle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A follow-up to her earlier book, “Dawn of the Belle Époque” ... in this work, McAuliffe tracks the history of Paris from 1900 to the end of the Great War thru the perspective of artists such as Picasso, musicians such as Stravinsky, businessmen such as Renault, plus prominent women like Marie Curie and Gertrude Stein ... an engaging social history ...

[LINDA W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as engrossing as the first Belle Epoque book. Perhaps because there is so much info on composers and music, which I am not so familiar with. But well written and researched, and full of so many interesting facts.

[Vera Degas · Rating 1 out of 5]

It reads as gossip vignettes from the many characters of the era. Boring and long .
It is not about the art & artists .It's about their personal lifes,how they live,who dated who,etc. Goes for too long about the comings and goings of Isadora Ducan's dating and intimate life.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

Such an excellent book! This is my third in this series and it did not disappoint. So interesting to learn how the art scene and surrounding culture continued to evolve in Paris at this time. I will probably listen again. Bravo!

[Stevie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoy the McAuliffe books on that era. Interesting history/biographies from a fascinating, dynamic time in Europe.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was organized as thought it was meant to be read on the toilet.

[Klissia]

"When The ball is over..."

[David Brimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as “Dawn of..” but still VERY informative.