Le Tastemaker
Rumors abound that a certain atelier in Paris has the above portrait of the Vicomtesse de Noailles, front and center on its inspiration board. And pray tell, why not? Her ancestrage alone is grounds for intrigue: the Marquis de Sade (on her mother’s side) for example. But apart from her notorious relations (the family tree makes up most of her wikipedia page) Marie-Laure de Noailles has certainly earned her place in history as one of the great tastemakers of modern times. A rather fetching title — tastemaker, no?
To put her renowned feats in perspective, consider the Vicomtesse’s profound influence on Yves Saint Laurent’s own aesthetics. It is reported her exquisite taste in both collecting and interior decoration led to Laurent’s own discerning acquisitions over the course of his legendary lifetime. On those occasions when the young man was invited to lunch at the townhouse, the lushness of the surroundings were not lost on his discriminating eye.
So powerful and exacting was Madame de Noailles’ ambiance, it is intimated that the above image of the fair damsel reclining (perchance collapsing?) in her salon amidst her extraordinary collection of curios so inspired Saint Laurent that he requested his antique dealers, Nicholas and Alexis Krugel reconstitute the arrangement of objet d’arts on Marie-Laure’s table for his own rue Babylone apartment no matter the cost. They dutifully obliged without complaint or negotiation.
Madame’s grandiosity was such that it compelled her to house the stunning assemblage of her personal art collection, including works by Ruebens, Van Dyck, Watteau, Goya, Delacroix, Braque, Klee, Picasso and Balthus, in the fabled hôtel particulier at 11 Place des États-Unis, which was built by her grandfather Bischoffsheim. It’s been said that it featured one of the most shocking living rooms in Paris at the time designed by French designer Jean-Michel Frank in his preferred minimalist style, though accented with the most opulently expensive materials imaginable.
Beyond her reputation as an arbiter of world-renowned taste, Marie-Laure’s life force more than left a mark on her contemporaries. It nurtured and scorched everyone from Picasso to Man Ray, Jean Cocteau, (who she tried with futility to seduce), Ned Rorem (ditto), Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel. It would seem that like her collection of artworks, she instinctively understood the pursuit of genius.
The very humorous (in a deliciously arch way) Baron de Rede once described madame Noailles as “confident and controlling yet equally nervous and insecure”. He went on to add, “She had a poor figure due to a tumor in her stomach which made her look permanently pregnant.”
Undeterred, she nevertheless was known for possessing a certain “presence,” although some in her circle were reported to whisper behind her back that she bore an uncanny resemblance to “Louis XIV”. Harmless gossip or outright envy? Matters not. The woman did, after all, build an empire
