Dina Vierny
Encyclopedia
Dina Vierny was an art dealer
, collector
and museum director
and former artists' model
.
Born as Dina Aibinder into a Jewish family in Kishinev, Bessarabia
(now Chisinau, Moldova),
Vierny was a 15-year-old lycée student in Paris when she met the almost 60 years older artist Aristide Maillol
, in the mid-1930s. The architect Jean-Claude Dondel, a friend of her father, decided that she would make the perfect model for the artist, who was then 73 years old, and reportedly in the professional doldrums. She was Maillol's muse for the last ten years of his life. Both Matisse
and Bonnard
, artists for whom she also posed, attributed a renewed inspiration for painting
and sculpture to Vierny.
, at the foot of the eastern Pyrenees. Vierny, who had already begun working for a French Resistance
group in Paris, was approached by Varian Fry
, whose organization in Marseille helped smuggle refugees from occupied France into Spain. Without Maillol's knowledge, she began working as a guide, identifiable to her fleeing charges by her red dress. The work was doubly dangerous as she was Jewish.
The story came out, and Maillol, a native of the region, showed her secret shortcuts, smugglers' routes and goat paths to use. After several months of working for the Comité Fry
, Vierny was arrested by the French police, who seized her correspondence with her friends in the Surrealist movement but failed to notice stacks of forged passports in her room. A lawyer hired by Maillol won her acquittal at trial, and to keep her out of harm's way the artist sent her to pose for Matisse in Nice. Matisse did several drawings and proposed an ambitious painting that he called a Matisse Olympia, after the famous painting by Manet
. When Maillol heard that the project would take at least six months, he hastily recalled her to Banyuls.
In 1943, Vierny was again arrested, this time by the Gestapo
, in Paris. She was released after six months in prison when Maillol appealed to Arno Breker
, Hitler’s favorite sculptor.
She accumulated no fewer than 90 antique carriages, including the omnibus that Toulouse-Lautrec used to pick up his friends and the carriage used by Chateaubriand when he was ambassador to Italy. In the early 1970s, Dina Vierny decided to start a Maillol museum. She began buying up apartments on the Rue de Grenelle in Paris, selling off her collection of 654 dolls along the way. In 1995 she opened the
Fondation Dina Vierny-Musée Maillol, whose permanent collection also includes work by Degas, Kandinsky, Picasso, Duchamp and other artists.
Art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers' professional associations serve to set high standards for accreditation or membership and to support art exhibitions and shows.-Role:...
, collector
Collection (museum)
A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, replaceable and less exhibition oriented...
and museum director
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
and former artists' model
Model (art)
Art models are models who pose for photographers, painters, sculptors, and other artists as part of their work of art. Art models who pose in the nude for life drawing are usually called life models...
.
Born as Dina Aibinder into a Jewish family in Kishinev, Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
(now Chisinau, Moldova),
Vierny was a 15-year-old lycée student in Paris when she met the almost 60 years older artist Aristide Maillol
Aristide Maillol
Aristide Maillol or Aristides Maillol was a French Catalan sculptor and painter.-Biography:...
, in the mid-1930s. The architect Jean-Claude Dondel, a friend of her father, decided that she would make the perfect model for the artist, who was then 73 years old, and reportedly in the professional doldrums. She was Maillol's muse for the last ten years of his life. Both Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
and Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard was a French painter and printmaker, as well as a founding member of Les Nabis.-Biography:...
, artists for whom she also posed, attributed a renewed inspiration for painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and sculpture to Vierny.
World War II
In 1939, Maillol took refuge at his home in Banyuls-sur-MerBanyuls-sur-Mer
Banyuls-sur-Mer is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-Geography:Banyuls-sur-Mer is neighbored by Cerbère, Port-Vendres, Argelès-sur-Mer and Collioure. The region is known for its wines, such as the sweet wine Banyuls. An aquatic museum with aquarium is located in...
, at the foot of the eastern Pyrenees. Vierny, who had already begun working for a French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
group in Paris, was approached by Varian Fry
Varian Fry
Varian Mackey Fry was an American journalist. Fry ran a rescue network in Vichy France that helped approximately 2,000 to 4,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees to escape Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
, whose organization in Marseille helped smuggle refugees from occupied France into Spain. Without Maillol's knowledge, she began working as a guide, identifiable to her fleeing charges by her red dress. The work was doubly dangerous as she was Jewish.
The story came out, and Maillol, a native of the region, showed her secret shortcuts, smugglers' routes and goat paths to use. After several months of working for the Comité Fry
Varian Fry
Varian Mackey Fry was an American journalist. Fry ran a rescue network in Vichy France that helped approximately 2,000 to 4,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees to escape Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.-Early life:...
, Vierny was arrested by the French police, who seized her correspondence with her friends in the Surrealist movement but failed to notice stacks of forged passports in her room. A lawyer hired by Maillol won her acquittal at trial, and to keep her out of harm's way the artist sent her to pose for Matisse in Nice. Matisse did several drawings and proposed an ambitious painting that he called a Matisse Olympia, after the famous painting by Manet
Manet
-MANET as an abbreviation:*MANET is a mobile ad hoc network, a self-configuring mobile wireless network.*MANET database or Molecular Ancestry Network, bioinformatics database-People with the surname Manet:*Édouard Manet, a 19th-century French painter....
. When Maillol heard that the project would take at least six months, he hastily recalled her to Banyuls.
In 1943, Vierny was again arrested, this time by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, in Paris. She was released after six months in prison when Maillol appealed to Arno Breker
Arno Breker
Arno Breker was a German sculptor, best known for his public works in Nazi Germany, which were endorsed by the authorities as the antithesis of degenerate art....
, Hitler’s favorite sculptor.
Post WWII
After the war, Ms. Vierny opened an art gallery in Paris, where she exhibited Maillol's work, as well as that of others. After traveling to the Soviet Union in the 1960s, she began collecting and showing work by dissident artists like Ilya Kabakov and Erik Bulatov.She accumulated no fewer than 90 antique carriages, including the omnibus that Toulouse-Lautrec used to pick up his friends and the carriage used by Chateaubriand when he was ambassador to Italy. In the early 1970s, Dina Vierny decided to start a Maillol museum. She began buying up apartments on the Rue de Grenelle in Paris, selling off her collection of 654 dolls along the way. In 1995 she opened the
Fondation Dina Vierny-Musée Maillol, whose permanent collection also includes work by Degas, Kandinsky, Picasso, Duchamp and other artists.