Memoir, circa 1950.

0.42 linear feet (1 box)

English

In English.

Gift of Norman Holmes Pearson.

This material is open for research.

Romaine Brooks (1874-1970) was an American painter. She studied at the Scuola Nazionale (1896-1897) in Rome and the Académie Colarossi (1899) in Paris. Her first one-person exhibition was at the Galerie Durand-Ruel (1910). Brooks is well-known for her portraits, usually in a grey palette, of women in masculine dress.

Two typescript copies of Romaine Brooks's untitled memoir. Brooks describes her professional and personal life covering her upbringing and education, including her experiences as a student at the Scuola Nazionale and the Académie Colarossi, to her life as an expatriate American in Paris and Capri. Brooks, who remained in Europe during World War One and World War Two, also provides insight into her wartime experiences. Her career as an artist is also richly documented in the memoir, which includes descriptions of her sitters, ranging from well-known figures such as Gabriele D'Annunzio to lesser known models, and her views on art and her working methods. Brooks also discusses her relationship with her partner Natalie Clifford Barney.

April 27, 2011

Romaine Brooks, Memoir. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Romaine Brooks, Memoir. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.