Florine Prosper known as Jeanne Duval (; 18 November 1818-20 December 1868) was a Franco-Haitian actress. She was a key muse and longtime partner of poet and art critic Charles Baudelaire, with whom she had an on-again-off-again and tumultuous relationship spanning two decades.

An enigma

Until recently, very little was known about her, as evidenced by the 2005 biography of Claude Pichois and Jean Ziegler on Baudelaire: "We do not know the family origins of Jeanne and up to her surname—if she had one".

Hypotheses about its geographical origins abounded: Jacmel in Haiti, Reunion Island, Mauritius, Mascarene Islands, India, South Africa, Madagascar, and Saint-Barts. For some scholars, Jeanne Duval's grandmother hailed from Haiti and her name was Marie Duval. Various accounts detail Marie Duval's journy, indicating that she may have ben born in Guinea, sold into the slave trade, transported to Haiti, and subsequently sent to a brothel in Nantes, where she gave birth to Marie, Duval's mother, around 1789.

Contemporary observers completed the story and described Jeanne-Marie-Marthe Domingue (or Lemaire/Lemer), Jeanne Duval's mother, as "an old, respectable looking negress, with thick, greasy hair which tried in vain to twirl over her cheeks and ears". Sources have suggested that she might have been involved in prostitution. They assume that Jeanne Duval was probably of mixed African and French heritage, as her father and grandfather were likely Frenchmen, though she probably had minimal or no interaction with them. Baudelaire, in his letters, often calls her "Mademoiselle Lemer" (in 1845, for example, in a letter to his family notary Ancelle), but also Jeanne Duval (1847 and 1859) and finally, "Jeanne Prosper" in 1864. Contemporary officials allegedly wrote the name Lerner or Lemaire on her mother's death certificate.

A decisive discovery

Since the late nineteenth century, imaginations had been fertile and had asserted without evidence. In April 2024, a book brings new information and tangible evidences that lifts the veil on many uncertainties. It is the result of research undertaken by a professor of literature who has already authored several books on artists' muses, Mrs Catherine Choupin.

Early life

Jeanne Duval was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on 18 November 1818 under the name of "Florine Prosper", as evidenced by her birth certificate.  About the same document, her father was Jean Prosper, a innkeeper, and her mother was Jeanne Lemère, wife of Jean.

On 21 July 1821, Florine Prosper arrived in France from Haiti, on the three-master ship "L'Amédée" at the port of Le Havre, as indicated by the departmental register. On the register, her mother is listed as a widow Lemaire, born in Angers (France) and 38 years old; she is accompanied by her daughters, Florine but also by an eldest daughter Gabrielle born in Paris, about 10 years old [ca 1811]. This indicates that before her stay in Haiti, the mother, born in France, was married to a Mr. Lemaire, who lived in Paris at the birth of Gabrielle.

In light of this evidence, Madame Choupin deduces the following hypothesis: Jeanne’s mother, who says she was born in Angers in 1780, married in France to a Lemaire (Lemer) and had a daughter, Gabrielle, born in Paris in 1810 or 1811. Then, she leaves for Haiti for an unknown reason: is she leaving with her husband or is she already a widow? There, she marries Jean Prosper (Prospère), innkeeper, who is undoubtedly a mulatto and who is the father of Jeanne. Jeanne Duval is therefore indeed a quadroon, which assumes three white grandparents. Let us note in passing that the frequent name of "Black Venus" is somewhat exaggerated for one whose skin was not very colored. Jean Prosper dies in Haiti and Jeanne’s mother is forced to return to France on the three-master "L'Amédée".

She was often described as tall, distinctly exceeding the average height, as noted by Nadar. The recently discovered archives mention that it measured 1.70 m (5’ 7”) in 1865 when the average height of women seemed to be 1.60 m (5’ 3”).

Furthermore, acquaintances mentioned that Duval's hair was "violently crimped"

Relationship with Baudelaire

Early years

thumb|Portrait of Jeanne Duval, by [[Charles Baudelaire]]

In April 1842, During the early 1840s, Duval and Baudelaire started to appear together in Baudelaire's bohemian circles, which included visits to artist's studios like that of Honoré Daumier. They cohabited for several years, during which Baudelaire provided financial support to her, although his family lawyer, Ancelle, managed his finances.

Baudelaire sought to cultivate Jeanne Duval to make her a more intellectually stimulating companion. sold her jewellery and furniture, and drove her into debt. Although the evidence is lacking, some claim that during this time, Jeanne Duval took out loans in his name for alcohol and drugs. The artwork illustrates three distinct groups: ordinary French citizens on the left, the Parisian artistic elite on the right, and the artist in the middle, serving as a mediator between the two factions.

Later years (1855–1861)

thumb|[[Charles Baudelaire drawing of Jeanne Duval, c. 1858–60]]

By 1854, Jeanne Duval's own health had started to decline. In January 1855, Duval and Baudelaire reunited again, residing at 18 rue d'Angoulême-du-Temple. In February 1859, Jeanne Duval relocated to 22 rue Beautreilly, where Baudelaire resided with her for six weeks. Théodore de Banville, a close friend of Baudelaire, believed that Duval was the sole woman Baudelaire genuinely loved.

Jeanne Duval, under the name Florine Jeanne Gabrielle Adeline Prosper, died on 20 December 1868, 16 months after Charles Baudelaire.

Legacy

Jeanne Duval's reputation has long been a negative one, influenced by the racist and misogynistic stereotypes that were common in 19th-century French society. Baudelaire's mother strongly disliked Duval, and his friends found it difficult to accept her, struggling to fit her into a respectable image of his life. Throughout his poetry, Baudelaire portrays Jeanne Duval as powerful, sensual, cruel and destructive. He loves her deeply yet perceives her as sinister, referring to her as "O mon cher Belzébuth, je adore!" Baudelaire views their relationship as a united front against the world. but also “Avec ses vêtements ondoyants” (With her Pearly, Undulating Dresses), “Les Bijoux” (jewellery), « Le Sonnet 39 » (the sonnet 39) and more !

In addition, two texts are dedicated to JGF, a dedication that had remained mysterious until then, unintelligible as Baudelaire had certainly desired: the poem Héautontimorouménos in Les Fleurs du mal (published in 1857) and Les Paradis artificiels (text published in 1860). We now know that they were dedicated to Jeanne Gabrielle Florine.|267x267px]]Many art historians believe Jeanne Duval is the subject of Édouard Manet's Baudelaire's Mistress, Reclining (1862), as evidenced by the artist's studio register entries completed by his wife, Suzanne Manet. and in the title story of the collection Black Venus by Angela Carter. Kathy Acker's short story "New York City in 1979" is dedicated to "Jeanne's insulted beauty," which is a reference to Jeanne Duval.

The noted American conceptual artist Lorraine O'Grady developed a 16-diptych photo-installation featuring paired images of Baudelaire and Duval titled Flowers of Evil and Good. Preliminary studies for this installation have been exhibited in the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, the Thomas Erben Gallery, New York, and Galerie Fotohof in Salzburg, Austria. O'Grady has written extensively about the relationship of Baudelaire and Duval in Mousse Magazine and Pétunia: magazine féministe d'art contemporain et de loisirs.

Scottish artist Maud Sulter created several artworks inspired by Duval, using images such as her photograph by Nadar, and self-portraits of the artist. Many of these were displayed in a solo show at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery titled Jeanne Duval: A Melodrama.

Mademoiselle Baudelaire, by Belgian comic artist Bernard Hislaire, is a 2021 biographical graphic novel about the affairs between Jeanne Duval and Charles Baudelaire.

With her feminine sensibility and her knowledge of Baudelaire, Catherine Choupin completes her revelations and gives voice to Jeanne Duval in a moving biographical novel, Le Point de vue de Jeanne.

References

  • 20 English translations of Baudelaire's poem "The Balcony", addressed to Jeanne Duval