FEMALE PUBLIC NUDITY IN BELLE ÉPOQUE PARIS By LELA LOVETT FELTER-KERLEY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2006 Copyright 2006 by Lela Lovett Felter-Kerley This life-long dream would not have been possible without the vision and encouragement of my parents and the numerous sacrifices of my husband John and daughter Adyla. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Let me begin by saying that nothing could be more foreign, more out-of-character, for me than to write a dissertation on nudity. Raised in a puritanical, middle-class military household during the conservative years of the Reagan administration (lest we forget Edwin Meese?), the closest I came to naked bodies was seeing my baby sister race around the house after having her nightly baths. For years I have thought very little of those first visions and memories of my childhood until now. However the context for my thinking about nudity some twenty odd years later is radically different. Through a series of chance happenings and unforeseen events, I am now confronting my innermost feelings, frustrations, and fascinations with the naked body. It has been as much a taboo for me to think, speak, and write about as it has been for many of closest friends and family members to hear. The University of Florida, its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and its Department of History granted me the academic freedom and financial wherewithal to explore this subject. The Council for European Studies’ generous pre-dissertation fellowship afforded me the opportunity to conduct preliminary research abroad. Furthermore, awards given by Linda Vance and the family of O. Ruth McQuown helped to pay for my travel expenses when I presented individual chapters of this dissertation at conferences held by the French Historical Studies and the Western Society for French History. iv Finally, this dissertation would not have been possible without the support of a small but influential group of strong-willed, ambitious, and accomplished professional women in my life. I would be remiss if I did not thank them for helping me to dream bigger, think harder, and see this project through to the end. Angel Kwolek-Folland provided me with the basic conceptual tools for exploring a topic in the history of sexuality. Her classes created a nurturing environment where my ideas could germinate and grow. A desire to study the history of female public nudity in relation to Belle Époque visual culture was due in large part to Melissa Hyde and her infectious passion for art history. Mary Louise Roberts, who graciously agreed to read and critique the final draft, ultimately shaped the dissertation’s narrative structure by offering a bird’s eye view of what I could only see in miniscule detail. Yet the overall direction of this study has been steered by my fearless and faithful advisor, Sheryl Kroen, who prodded me every step along the way. Thanks to her visionary insight, I can look back and see the extraordinary progress that we made together. She has been a wonderful friend and mentor to me over these years. I am, and will be, eternally grateful for her shepherding. v TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 2 FROM THE STUDIO TO THE STREETS: THE FEMALE NUDE ARTIST IN FIN-DE-SIÈCLE PARIS............................................................................................20 History of Public Balls................................................................................................23 The Press, Graphic Artists, and Public Balls..............................................................28 The Female Nude in Nineteenth-Century Art ............................................................43 The Bal des Quat’z-Arts .............................................................................................58 3 FROM THE STREET TO THE MUSIC HALL: THE FEMALE NUDE PERFORMER IN BELLE ÉPOQUE PARIS.............................................................87 Le Music Hall .............................................................................................................90 Photographic Representations of La Femme Nue ....................................................117 Literary Representations of La Femme Nue.............................................................137 4 THE POLITICS OF MORALITY IN BELLE ÉPOQUE FRANCE........................154 René Bérenger ..........................................................................................................156 Moral Leagues ..........................................................................................................165 The Trial of the Bal des Quat’z-Arts ........................................................................198 5 CENSORSHIP IN BELLE ÉPOQUE FRANCE......................................................218 The Ministry of Public Instruction and Beaux-Arts .................................................222 The Politics of Le Déshabillage................................................................................242 Arguments For and Against Censorship...................................................................261 vi 6 PHYRNÉ BEFORE HER JUDGES .........................................................................278 Fears of Degeneration...............................................................................................281 Le Déshabillage Obligatoire!....................................................................................289 Le nu au théâtre ........................................................................................................297 Folies Royales ...................................................................................................298 Folies Pigalle .....................................................................................................300 Little Palace.......................................................................................................304 Folies-Pigall’ .....................................................................................................307 The “Obscene” Nude ................................................................................................312 7 LA FEMME NUE: IN HER OWN WORDS ...........................................................321 Degeneration, La Culture Physique, and Sexual Dimorphism.................................324 La Femme Nue Speaks .............................................................................................335 8 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................362 LIST OF REFERENCES.................................................................................................376 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...........................................................................................393 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 2-1 An artist and his models at the ball ..........................................................................64 3-2 The Folies-Bergère...................................................................................................94 3-3 “La Belle D’Herlys” in a 1912 Moulin Rouge tableau vivant. ..............................105 3-4 Jane de Lyane in La Belle de New York.................................................................120 3-5 Jane de Lyane in 1912 revue Eglé..........................................................................121 3-6 Jane de Lyane posing for the Olympia music hall .................................................122 3-7 D'Herlys in 1914 revue Orgie à Babylone .............................................................126 3-8 1912 Folies-Bergère program cover.......................................................................127 3-9 Advertisements from La Cigale program, ca. 1900 ...............................................128 3-10: Les femmes nues ....................................................................................................130 3-11 Mlle Rethore as “La Deese Raison” in La Cigale revue ........................................130 3-12 Blanche Dorfeuil in La Boite à Fursy's revue Une Femme Nue ............................131 3-13 Jane de Lyane as “Le Modèle de Montmartre” in the Moulin Rouge's La Revue de la Femme ...........................................................................................................133 4-14 René Bérenger (far right) .......................................................................................157 6-15 Phryné devant ses juges..........................................................................................279 viii Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy FEMALE PUBLIC NUDITY IN BELLE ÉPOQUE PARIS By Lela Lovett Felter-Kerley December 2006 Chair: Sheryl T. Kroen Major Department: History My dissertation focuses