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marthe de florian

A 1940s Paris time capsule discovered in the apartment of one Madame de Florian, whose grandmother was the actress Marthe de Florian, and a muse of painter Giovanni Boldini (1884-1931), born in Italy, died in France, known as "Master of Swish."  One of his love letters to the actress (along with the painting shown left) was discovered in a Right Bank apartment the granddaughter fled during the second World War.  The apartment was never reentered until after her death in southern France in 2010.

Via Michelle Gable, Madame de Florian's grandmother was also a demimondaines, one of a group of very wealthy courtesans during the Parisian Gilded Age or Belle Époque (1871-1914) - known for drinking, gambling, drug use, and excessive spending on clothing.  They lived extravagant lifestyles provided by wealthy, well known lovers, one of whom, in this case, was the famous painter Giovanni Boldini, as well as the 72nd prime minister of France, George Clemenceau, a statesman known as "Père la Victoire" (Father Victory) or "Le Tigre" (The Tiger) who led France into the first World War and was one of the principal architects of the heavily punitive Treaty of Versailles.  When war first broke out, happy go lucky Parisians danced to initial news in the streets, unaware of the cataclysmic events also about to bring their Marthe de Florian Gilded Age to a grinding halt.  A George Clémenceau portrait was painted by Édouard Manet in 1879-1880, and Ferdinand Roybet painted a portrait of his wife, American born Mary (Plummer) Clémenceau .  The Clemenceaus had three children together, and although George had many lovers, including the captivating Marthe de Florian, when Mary Plummer decided to have her own affair with the children's tutor, he had her arrested, jailed for 2 weeks, stripped of her French nationality, and, then sent back to the U.S. on a third class steamer while taking custody of all the children.  On the other hand, another report has a separated (but never divorced) Mary Plummer becoming a magazine writer and tour guide, while raising a daughter Madeline who becomes a famous journalist, public speaker, and Red Cross nurse.  While Paris is under siege, Madeline's mother refuses Clémenceau's offer of evacuation and remains in France.

The first painting, shown above, of Madame de Florian's grandmother Marthe, discovered in this time  capsuled Parisian apartment in 2010, ultimately sold for €2.1 million.  The second painting, shown above, of Le Tigre's scarlet lettered Mary Plummer is reported by Wikipedia as unknown in its present whereabouts.

*Photo credit/top, via Wikipedia, Portrait of the actress Marthe de Florian aged 24 in 1898, by the artist Giovanni Boldini/second, via Wikipedia, portrait of Mary (Plummer) Clémenceau, by the artist Ferdinand Roybet - date of painting unreported, location of painting reported unknown.