There is a mystique about the early portrait photography of the late 19th the new 20th century. There is something so compelling about the Belle Epoque beauties, the glamor of silent screen goddesses. . . I can't quite put my finger on it, but that is probably why it is a MYSTIQUE.
Surely, the human form—and the feminine form particularly—has always been the most powerful image in art, from the very dawn of the artistic impulse. But I’m not sure why I’m so enthralled by famous beauties of from the past, and why I find them far more compelling than the publicity photos of current celebrities.
Perhaps it has everything to do with their world being lost to us by time—and the only peephole we have to their lives, is through these mysterious pictures.
In the case of Cléo de Mérode, beauty of the Belle Epoque—her portraits fascinated people of her own era, as they continue to fascinate us today. Cléo was a serious ballet dancer, who performed across Europe and in the United States--but she was more famous for her arresting image, which was popular on widely circulated post cards, sheet music and playing cards.
Her hair style—a chignon, with the hair arranged low over the ears—became the rage of Paris. She was also known for her tiny waist, attained by the extreme tight-lacing of her corset.
Cleopatra Diane de Mérode was born in 1874 in Bordeaux, France. Her father was an Austrian landscape painter, and descended from an aristocratic Belgian family. Cléo was selected for the Opera School of Dance at 8-years old, and began dancing professionally at eleven.
The little ballerina grew into a romantically beautiful young woman. She inevitably attracted much attention for it, both positive and negative. When she was 22, King Léopold II of Belgium saw Mérode dance at the ballet, and was utterly smitten. He pursued her, but the tale is that Cléo did not return his regard. Gossip circulated that she was the royal old rascal's latest mistress, and because the 61-year old Léopold was a notorious rake, Cléo's reputation suffered, and the story dogged her until the end of her life.
The scandal did not prevent de Mérode's rise to become an internatonal star. At the height of her career, she danced at the Folies Bergère, which was a déclassé venue for an elite ballet star—but it was such a bravado act, it earned her a whole new audience.
Cléo was the inspiration for many contemporary artists of her time. Sculptor Alexandre Falguière created The Dancer in her image, which can be viewed today in the Musée d'Orsay. In 1895, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec sketched her portrait. Gustav Klimt used her as the model for many of his paintings. She was the subject for many of the most famous photographers of the age.
Cléo was popular not only in France, but in Germany and in her father's ancestral land of Austria. Silent screen actress Fern Andra portrayed her in the 1926 German film Frauen der Leidenschaft. Her relationship with Austrian painter Gustav Klimt was the basis for the 2006 film Klimt, starring John Malkovich as Klimt, and Saffron Burrows as "Lea de Castro," a character based on Cléo de Mérode.
She continued to dance until her early fifties. Afterwards she retired to live by the sea, and write her memoirs. In 1955 she published Le Ballet de ma vie (The Dance of My Life).Cléo de Mérode died in 1966 and was put to rest in Paris's Père Lachaise Cemetery. She is buried alongside her mother.
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