Our primary reference for this month's subject, Courtesan Laine De Pougy, is the book titled the Mistress of Paris by author Catherine Hewitt. who did excellent research on Comtesse Valtesse de la Bigne, one of the famous Parisian Courtesans who retired very rich. As promised in the teaser I posted a couple days ago, Hewitt's book turns out to include Liane De Pougy, who Valtesse mentored. Rereading that book, which I've featured before, from cover to cover, I focused on Liane. Her life entwined with American ex-pat lesbian Natalie Clifford Barney and others who've been mentioned here at Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot.
We will also look into Liane's own diary called Blue Notebooks, which she wrote in her later years as a Princess.
Photo is a WIKIMEDIA COMMONS download
Anne-Marie Chassaigne
LIANE de POUGY
Princess Anne-Marie Ghilka
1869 - 1950
In the book, The Mistress of Paris, we get to focus on something we don't often get to and that's the relationships between one courtesan/mistress and another. We are so used to the idea that women always compete with each other for the attention of men, be that as boyfriends or husbands or clients, but in every profession, there are some women who mentor others. In my opinion those women who mentor are the most secure in themselves and their position.
Valtesse de la Bigne*, along with the rest of Parisian society in the late 1800's, took on the new rage for British 'tea at five o'clock." It was a time to visit, nosh, gossip, meet and mix with others. Valtesse and all her friends had 'five o'clocks' and had become the talk of Paris, with people vying for invitations, even people who would never consider becoming courtesans themselves but wanted some notice because of their association with a Courtesan. The newspapers reported who attended. Valtesse's women-only 'five o'clocks" were popular but she intentionally remained mysterious about her attraction to other women. The 'Grand Horizontales' in Valtesse's circle usually experienced casual lesbian sex and she had no doubt been seen out and around town at concerts and the theater with lesbians, but her close friends knew there was only one favorite and that was Liane de Pougy.
Around the same time bars and eateries in the Montemartre district were whispered to be lesbian hang outs. One, called Le Hanneton, had a décor that featured dark red curtains, small tables, and low lighting, for intimate meet ups. Then there was Le Rat Morte (The Dead Rat!) which was open 24 hours and had second door to enter or exit through discreetly.
Liane, who started out plain, skinny, and androgynous, graduated from a convent school and was married at seventeen to a navy officer who she was miserable with. Then she suffered the traumatic birth of her first baby. She could have had a financially secure life if she could put up with him, but she sought out adventure, love and sex, with other men. When her husband caught her in bed with another man he shot at her. In 1890 she left her child in the care of others and went to Paris, with some startup capital, to stay with a friend. She was twenty-seven years old. Unlike so many other courtesans, she had not started out as a teenage sex worker, a street walker at the bottom of the profession. Across the street was a famous and rich courtesan named Louise Balthy who she watched with great interest. She made the decision to become a courtesan and began with changing her name.
After they met and instantly took to each other, Valtesse, about twenty years older than Liane, decided to take the totally inexperienced newcomer under her wing and "taught her young protégé everything she knew, from how to secure a client, to managing her career and finances, even teaching her techniques to employ in the bedroom." (Page 251)
The two women had a great rapport and went out on the town - Paris - together, though they were distinctly different in appearance and generation. They acted like a couple light-hearted schoolgirls. Valtesse told Liane that going out to Maxims restaurant, the opera in Nice, and other elite venues was business; she had to be seen. She also cautioned the younger woman that she could not give sex away - not even if it was just that a man wished to see her ankle - and to not accept being ripped off by merchants either. This was business. She had to be focused on her goal to be rich and not allow herself to be blinded by feelings of love.
Liane De Pougy was courted by the Princes and Dukes who had money as well as the playwrights and artists. She could hold her own in conversations about the arts, but it was fashion that thrilled her as a young woman. She became known for her hat collection and spending 33,000 francs a year on clothing. Valtesse told her that a Courtesan's bedroom was a stage set and that her décor needed to reflect her appearance and style. Liane decorated her first apartment in luxury including a Louis XV bed. She vacationed on the Riviera in Menton where she stayed at a villa she called La Perle Blanche (The White Pearl.) Liane's trademark was the pearl.
Eventually she would author several books that the public eagerly consumed.
Liane could have failed to succeed and ended up sickly and on the street as so many of the sex workers did, so she was grateful to Valtesse for mentoring her and considered her an excellent friend.
Liane De Pougy, was not heterosexual. She was bisexual, but careful to keep her involvement with women a secret from the men who paid to play. Valtesse believed strongly and so advised Liane that to remain a successful courtesan she could not become known as lesbian. An occasional affair with another woman was fine but a serious liaison would ruin her career. ame the day when Valtesse would make a point of that when a famous American lesbian came calling.
This month we will explore the life of Liane De Pougy who, as the title of this post says, became a Courtesan, married a Prince and became a Princess, and ended her years associated with a nunnery.
Missy
C 2022 Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot
*an aristocratic name that she took hoping to elevate her status, Changing names was common among those is any form of sex work.
If you are interested in the Courtesans of Paris, you may want to read the following months.
Valtesse de la Bigne was featured in April 2018
American lesbian in Paris, Natalie Clifford Barney is first featured in the September 2014 issue.
You may also be interested in Marguerite Alibert, who was the subject of January 2019.
Or search for the word Paris using the search feature in this Google Blogger.
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