Gabrielle: Muse of the Avant-Garde

12 hrs. 6 min.

Miscellaneous

Language Russian

Author Claire Berest

Narrator Anastasia Kolesina

Description

ILLEGAL USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS, PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES AND THEIR ANALOGUES CAUSES HARM TO HEALTH; THEIR ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING IS PROHIBITED AND ENTAILS LIABILITY PROVIDED FOR BY LAW.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when women were almost denied the opportunity to be creators of art, the young Gabrielle Buffe persistently fought for the right to study composition at the conservatory and dreamed of overturning the musical world. But fate assigned her a different mission: to become one of the key figures in shaping the boldest avant-garde explorations in painting.

Having met Francis Picabia—who at that time was still close to the Impressionists—Gabi helped him grasp the idea of abstraction and dare a radical turn in his creative work. Their union—both family and intellectual—became an important node of the Dadaist circle. Around her gathered the brightest minds of the time; her insight and complex character both attracted and unsettled. For Marcel Duchamp she became a source of impetus and inspiration, while Guillaume Apollinaire found in her a close friend and comrade.

Could a gifted rebel be content with the role of “the eccentric genius’s wife”? Drawing on letters and diary entries, the great-granddaughters of the heroine—Anne and Claire Berest—offer a rethinking of art history, returning Gabrielle her deserved place—not as an observer, but as one of the creators of the avant-garde.