Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Saturday 29 September 2018

French scholar names model for artist Courbet's famous nude

By SYLVIE CORBET The painting, too, remained
Associated Press secret as successive own-
PARIS (AP) — She was a ers were afraid to display it.
courtesan who relied on Her birth certificate showed
financial support from rich she was born in northern
men —but preferred the France to a single mother
company of women— and who was a textile worker
died with a reputation as and an unknown father.
an honorable patroness of At the age of 14, she joined
orphans. the opera of Paris as an as-
These are some of the piring dancer.
biographical details un- The wages were low and
earthed by a French schol- ballet dancers needed
ar who says he has identi- "protectors" to pay for cos-
fied the model for a famous tumes and classes, Schopp
19th century nude painting said.
by artist Gustave Courbet. "She's going to live from
Constance Queniaux was men, but she mostly lives
34-year-old in 1866 when with women," he said.
the French master painted Queniaux lived for a while
"L'Origine du monde" (The within a group of female
Origin of the World), French dancers and comedians,
literature expert Claude but proved to be "second
Schopp said this week. The In this photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, French historian Claude Schopp poses for a rank" as a dancer, accord-
painting depicts a naked photo in Paris. Associated Press ing to Schopp. She left bal-
woman lying on her back let at age 28 and became
with her legs spread and The letter said the woman her, but immediately made Original photographs of her the occasional mistress of
her face hidden by a rum- having "the interior" put to the link with "L'Origine du were held at the library. Khalil Bey.
pled sheet. The focus of the canvas by Courbet was monde." "She had left very few trac- A very wealthy art collec-
piece is her genitals. Mademoiselle Queniaux Like a detective, he fol- es, but enough to follow tor, he was also a woman-
Schopp said his discovery "from the opera." lowed the trail from the last her," the scholar said. izer.
came by chance when The letter also suggested name and profession clues. Queniaux's name was He commissioned two
he found Queniaux men- she was the mistress of an He concluded she was known to few people at paintings by Courbet,
tioned in a letter by French Ottoman diplomat, Halil Constance Queniaux and the time — and that's how including "L'Origine du
writer Alexandre Dumas fils, Serif Pasha, known as Khalil confirmed the conclusion the identity of the woman monde," which he kept be-
the son of "The Three Mus- Bey. with the help of France's in the painting was hidden hind a green curtain for his
keteers" author. Schopp had never heard of national library experts. for 150 years. private viewing pleasure.q

Daisy Johnson, Rachel Kushner

among Man Booker finalists

real — are on a list that in-
cludes three U.K. authors,
two Americans and a
Canadian."The Long Take"
is one of two debut novels
on the list, alongside "Ev-
erything Under," a story of
words and memory by Brit-
ish writer Daisy Johnson. At
27, Johnson is the young-
est-ever Booker finalist.
U.S. writer Rachel Kush-
ner's gritty women's prison
story "The Mars Room" is
also a finalist. "Washington
The panel of judges Jacqueline Rose, Kwame Anthony Black," the saga of an es-
Appiah, Val McDermid, Leo Robson and Leanne Shapton pose
during the Man Booker Prize 2018 shortlist announcement, at caped slave by Canada's
Riverbank House, in London, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. Esi Edugyan, and "Milk-
Associated Press man," a story by Northern
By JILL LAWLESS U.K. poet Robin Robert- Ireland writer Anna Burns
Associated Press son's verse novel about vi- set during the violent con-
LONDON (AP) — A novel olence and social division flict known as the Troubles,
in verse and a story about in contemporary America, round out the list.
trees and the people who "The Long Take," and U.S. The prize, subject to intense
love them are among six novelist Richard Powers' speculation and a flurry of
finalists announced Thurs- eco-saga "The Overstory" betting, usually brings the
day for the prestigious Man — whose characters are victor a huge boost in sales
Booker Prize for fiction. both human and arbo- and profile.q