Misia Sert (born Maria Zofia Olga Zenajda Godebska; 30 March 1872 – 15 October 1950) was known primarily as a patron of contemporary artists and musicians during the decades she hosted salons in her homes in Paris. Born in the Russian Empire and of Belgian, French and Polish descent, she became a professional pianist and gave her first public concert in 1892. She was a patron and friend of numerous artists, for whom she regularly posed, appearing on magazine covers and posters. Her salons were frequented by contemporary writers and musicians played their newest works.

In addition, Sert made creative and financial contributions to Sergei Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballets Russes. He consulted closely with her on elements of this innovative dance company, ranging from costume design to choreography.

Early life

Maria Zofia Olga Zenajda Godebska, known as Misia, was born on 30 March 1872 in Tsarskoye Selo, a town known as the Tsar's village, 13 miles outside Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire. Her father, Cyprian Godebski (1835-1909), was a renowned Polish sculptor and professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and had ties to the aristocracy. Her mother, Eugénie Sophie Léopoldine Servais (called Zofia in Polish), of French-Belgian descent, was the daughter of noted Belgian cellist, Adrien-François Servais and his wife.

Zofia Godebska knew that her husband engaged in extra-marital affairs. While pregnant, she traveled from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo, where she surprised Godebski, who was working there temporarily on a court project and living with his current mistress. Zofia died soon after giving birth to her daughter, thereafter called Misia, the Polish diminutive of Maria. Godebski sent the infant girl to be cared for by his wife's Servais family at Halle, Belgium, near Brussels. several years before Misia was born, others in the family circle taught her to read music as a young child and encouraged her to develop her gifts as a pianist.

Godebska's father remarried several times, ultimately reclaiming his daughter and bringing her to live with him and his newest wife in Paris. The girl missed the ambiance of her maternal grandparents’ home in Halle. Her father placed her in a convent boarding school in the city, Sacré-Coeur, where she was a student for eight years, 1882-1890. Her only pleasure was the piano lessons she took one day a week from musician and composer Gabriel Fauré, who was then deputy organist at Église de la Madeleine. Godebska left school and moved to London temporarily, using borrowed funds.

All were mesmerized by the charm and youth of their hostess Misia. In 1889, Natanson debuted La Revue Blanche, a periodical committed to nurturing new talent and showcasing the work of post-Impressionists known as Les Nabis. Misia Natanson became the muse and symbol of La Revue blanche, appearing in advertising posters created by Toulouse-Lautrec, Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard. A portrait of her by Renoir is now in the National Gallery, London.

Natanson’s La Revue blanche, coupled with his political activism, required an influx of capital in amounts he could not supply. Needing a benefactor, he approached Alfred Edwards, a newspaper magnate, the founder of the foremost newspaper in Paris, Le Matin. Edwards had become enamored with Misia Natanson and had taken her as his mistress in 1903. He said he would supply money, but only on the condition that Natanson relinquish his wife to him. The couple divorced. The Sert couple ultimately divorced on 28 December 1927.

The South-West Brabant Museum in Halle, her parents' home, has a collection on her life, as well as that of her maternal grandfather and father.

On 9 July 2022 a new bridge was opened near Charleroi that was named for her.

Notes

References

  • Pierre Bonnard, the Graphic Art, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (available online as PDF), which contains material on Sert (see index)
  • Profile from the Musée d'Orsay
  • A Biography for People who influenced Ravel
  • A web page about well known salons, in French
  • H.H. Stuckenschmidt - "Maurice Ravel" Variationen über Person und Werk