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<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guimard created some of her most noteworthy roles in the 1770s and ’80s. As the young and innocent Nicette in Maximilien Gardel’s La Chercheuse d’Esprit <\/em>(1778) she avoids an unappealing mercenary match intended by her mother, instead acquiring the youthful and sympathetic Alain as her fianc\u00e9e. Guimard’s performance impressed Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm with her spirit, delicacy, and natural grace.2<\/sup> In Gardel’s Le premier navigateur, ou Le pouvoir de l’amour<\/em> (26 July 1785) Guimard assumed the role of shepherdess M\u00e9lide. Newly wed to her beloved shepherd Daphnis, M\u00e9lide is separated from him in a great storm, and finds herself on a deserted island. Guimard’s affecting performance of the shepherdess’s utter despair (Act III, sc. 1) is captured in the print featured here. The accompanying verse declares that the virtuous, spirited and generous character of the dancer is united with a grace even more lovely than her beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elle unit les vertus, l’esprit et la bont\u00e9<\/p> A la grace plus belle encor que la beaut\u00e9<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n A caricature of Guimard as voluptuous hostess to \u2018Le Concert \u00e0 Trois<\/a>\u2019 would seem to be a comment on her well-funded lifestyle \u2013 which typically was supported by more than one lover at a time. The verses attached to the exemplar held by the Institute nationale de l’histoire de l’art (INHA) expand on the charms of each male serenader:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those familiar with Guimard’s exploits, the ‘financier’ would be Soubise, the ‘officier robuste’ would be the dancer Dauberval, and the musician likely LaBorde. Guimard’s biographer Edmond de Goncourt – drawing on the M\u00e9moires secrets <\/em>volume 19 – suggests as much. But he describes a version of the print where the musician (Laborde) is brandishing a conductor’s baton, whereas the INHA exemplar sports a flautist. And the horn player (Dauberval) would in another exemplar (inspected by Goncourt) be replaced with a cleric labelled as the abb\u00e9 de Jarente.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n With the addition of these verses (not mentioned in Goncourt) we may have yet another version of this caricature. These can be read in reference to Guimard\u2019s title-role in Gardel\u2019s 1779 ballet Mirza<\/em>, where she plays the daughter of a south-sea island\u2019s Governor, going by the name of Mondor. (Mondor was played by Dauberval.) The French military \u2013 in which Mirza\u2019s husband Lindor serves as an officer – <\/p>\n\n\n\n must quell an uprising of the native \u2018savages\u2019; the intercession of the wife of their chief (Mlle Heinel) saves Mirza, who in turn implores her father for clemency, thus saving the life of the \u2018savages’\u2019 chief. In the fourth act there is a festival that opens with cannon shot accompanied by military instruments, followed by a \u2018Symphonie \u00e0 grand Orchestre\u2019. Mondor conducts a party of the French dignitaries to a banquet, in which a chorus celebrates the beauty and grace of Mirza, as well as her capacity to cultivate l\u2019amiti\u00e9<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet the names of the male figures in the caricature’s verses map even more closely onto a one-act comedy, Le Faux-Seing, ou l\u2019Adroitte Soubrette<\/em>, written by Agricol Lapierre-Ch\u00e2teauneuf and performed in Marseille, Avignon, and other locales in 1787. This publication of its text was announced in the Journal des th\u00e9\u00e2tres <\/em>for 28 January 1795. Lisette (the adroit soubrette) is trying to counsel the youthful and timid Damis in his suit of Lucile, who risks being affianced to the rich Mondor at the desire of her mother. Mondor dismisses the suit of his young rival in front of Lucile; the situation escalates until ep\u00e9es are nearly drawn and Lucile is obliged to separate the men. Damis cedes to Mondor. Lucile \u2013 who does not wish to marry Mondor under any circumstances – makes her mother promise not to force a choice of spouse on her. Lucile\u2019s mother tells Mondor she will not oblige the marriage; he produces gold in the firm hope that financial inducement will grant his wishes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n The glasses worn by the Mondor character in the caricature are key to the next scene, in which due to the inadequacy of his lunettes<\/em> he has Lisette write a letter to Lucile at his dictation, declaring his love and offering her his worldly goods. Lisette even signs the letter, putting the name of ‘Damis’ to it. Damis disavows the missive but is sufficiently emboldened to kiss Lucile\u2019s hand. The piece ends with Mme Lisimon uniting the lovers and Mondor retiring in indignation. The critic reviewing the publication notes the similarity with this work\u2019s Mondor and a character of the same name in Fausses Infid\u00e9liti\u00e9s<\/em>; Damis was likely inspired by le Timide<\/em>, a comedy written by Paschali that was performed at the theatre of the Vari\u00e9t\u00e9s (renamed the theatre of the Republique) six or seven years previous.4<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Guimard was not directly connected with any of these works (apart from Mirza<\/em>), but they add a context in which this caricature could have been understood by her contemporaries – who may have been tempted to compare her lovers with popular fictional characters. The penciled identification of \u2018Mlle Guimard\u2019 as the subject implies that at least one viewer readily associated the dancer with a situation where a voluptuous and well-off woman appears to be courted by three different men – each having different attributes to recommend them. Since 1789, Guimard had been married to the musician-dancer-writer<\/p>\n\n\n Jean-\u00c9tienne Despr\u00e9aux, who may be represented by the ‘young still, flattered by a happy success’ flautist Damis in this print. Despr\u00e9aux – some 15 years Guimard’s junior – would prove a congenial companion for her retirement years, notwithstanding that the couple would lose their court-established pensions and lived in very straightened circumstances during their final years together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although cast in ‘Le Concert \u00e0 Trois’ as a good time girl relishing her life of luxury, Guimard was also known for her generous spirit and her capacity to use her good fortune to help others. March 1768 had seen a remarkable frost in Paris that brought attendant suffering with it. Guimard extracted 6000 francs from her lover Soubise (in lieu of an expected present of jewellery), added 2000 francs of her own money, and used these funds to distribute \u2013 in person – food and other necessities to the poor of her parish.3<\/sup> This act of charity by a celebrated artiste from the Paris Op\u00e9ra was the subject of a flattering caricature ‘Terpsicore charitable ou mademoiselle Guimard visitant les pauvres<\/a>\u2019 by an unknown contemporary. While we could dismiss this effort as a publicity stunt, Guimard\u2019s actions at other junctures in her life display a genuine philanthropic spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n
Marie Madeleine Guimard (1743-1816) began her professional career as a member of the corps de ballet<\/em> at the Com\u00e9die Fran\u00e7aise in 1758; within four years she was appointed to the Paris Op\u00e9ra as danseuse seule en double et figurant<\/em>. Guimard\u2019s d\u00e9but season for the Op\u00e9ra saw her assume the role of Terpsichore in Colin de Blamont’s ballet h\u00e9ro\u00efque Les F\u00eates grecques et romaines<\/em>; her rendition of the muse of the dance was subsequently immortalised in Jacques-Louis David\u2019s charming portrait<\/a> taken in the mid 1770s. In 1766 Guimard \u2013 celebrated for her unparalleled grace and refinement as a performer – was promoted to danseuse seule<\/em>. By the late 1760s she had also become a Parisian celebrity who exerted a particularly strong fascination on her public and the press until she retired in 1789.1<\/sup> Guimard was highly visible as a talented performer, as an indulged mistress of powerful and well positioned men, as a society hostess, and as a fashion plate \u2013- but also as a philanthropist, patron of the arts and workplace activist. These identities stimulated distinct responses from artists and writers that promoted and prolonged her celebrity status. <\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/c7\/Mademoiselle_Guimard_as_Terpsichore%2C_by_Jacques-Louis_David.jpg\")
New York Public Library<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Guimard attached herself to men of power and influence; her associations arguably strengthened her position within the Paris Op\u00e9ra, and demonstrably enabled her to live a life of artistic influence and luxury up until the French revolution. Her artistic liaisons included Hyacinthe, the ballet master of the Paris Op\u00e9ra\u2019s dance academy; the composer Jean-Benjamin de La Borde, first gentleman in waiting to the King; and the dancer-choreographer Jean Dauberval. Her wealthy supporters included Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise and Jarente, Bishop of Orl\u00e9ans. The former\u2019s wealth enabled the dancer to commission a luxurious H\u00f4tel <\/a> (completed 1770) designed by the King\u2019s architect Claude Nicholas Ledoux. Soubise\u2019s largesse enabled Guimard to establish herself as a society hostess who held thrice-weekly dinners, each for one of three distinct groups: men of influence; the artistic community; and a \u2018fast set\u2019 who wanted to indulge in all the sensory pleasures in luxurious surroundings. <\/p>\n\n\n\nRemarquons ce concert \u00e0 trois\nQuel accord! quelle intelligence!\nLe financier Mondor fier d\u2019en dicter les loix\nLa main sur la pochette en marquer la cadence.\n\nL\u2019Officier robuste, au poulmon vigoureux\nDonne du cor avec beaucoup d\u2019adresse\nJeune encore, mais flatt\u00e9 par un succ\u00e8s heureux\nLe jauvenceau Damis, sur sa fl\u00fbte s\u2019exerce.\n\nAnon., \u2018Le Concert \u00e0 Trois.\u2019 Paris: Martinet, n.d.\nInstitute national d\u2019histoire de l\u2019art (INHA), https:\/\/bibliotheque-numerique.inha.fr\/idurl\/1\/52364, accessed 24 January 2023.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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