The many lives of Miss K : Toto Koopman - model, muse, spy

170 Pages·2013·2 MB·English

by  Liaut

“[E]xuberant … [Koopman’s] life reads like that of a spectacularly well-connected Bond girl.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“When Jean-Noël Liaut becomes interested in a character, you can expect a fascinating study
of aesthetics, adventure and a larger than life existence—all perfectly captured.”
—VOGUE
On Madeleine Castaing
“The legendary Saint-Germain des Prés designer could not have dreamed of a more flattering
homage than this layered biography that is as informative as it is entertaining—a model for the
genre.”
—MARIE-CLAIRE
On Givenchy
“Jean-Noël Liaut’s biography [of Hubert de Givenchy] is as entertaining as a Billy Wilder
movie.”
—LE FIGARO
On Bizarre Angels
“A who’s who of the 20th century’s grand eccentric women—Bizarre Angels is the perfect
bedtime read.”
—LE FIGARO LITTÉRAIRE
First published in hardcover in the United States of America in 2013
by Rizzoli Ex Libris, an imprint of
Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.
300 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010
www.rizzoliusa.com
This ebook edition © 2013 Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.
Originally published in France as La Javanaise
© Editions Robert Laffont, S.A., Paris, 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without prior consent of the publishers.
eISBN: 978-0-84784142-4
v3.1
For Floc’h, with affection
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Photo Inserts
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
“I am more jealous of my own secrecy than of anything in this world. I hate discussing
topics that might furnish people with clues about me. I do not want people to get to know
me; rather that this should happen, I will build an extra fortress of reserve round myself,
I will treble the guard at the gate.”
Violet Trefusis
Letter to Vita Sackville-West,
August 27, 1918
“What does not warrant a second reading does not exert lasting fascination.”
Cristina Campo
Introduction
“It’s Mademoiselle! I never wanted to marry,” countered Catharina “Toto”
Koopman to anyone who dared to address her as Madame. It was the
same answer she gave throughout her life, a long life of adventure, peril,
conflict and intrigue; a life where petty rancor and timid imagination
had no place and simplistic dualism had no voice—the extraordinary
journey of a beguiling woman.
A stunning combination of the British fictional heroines Modesty
Blaise and the Madonna of the Sleeping Cars, Toto Koopman (1908–
1991) was the first biracial fashion model to achieve celebrity; she was
also a spy, deported for her participation in the Résistance, and the muse
for Europe’s most influential art gallery of the second half of the 20th
century. From the island of Java to the studios of Vogue, from the
Ravensbrück concentration camp to the London art scene of the 1950s
and 1960s, this beautiful, multilingual, daring, playful and resolutely
free-spirited woman left no one indifferent.
While some thought her dissolute and arrogant, others considered her
loyal and irresistible. Toto Koopman routinely defied convention in her
search for love and adventure. Indifferent to social taboos, she had
lovers of both sexes—from Tallulah Bankhead to Lord Beaverbrook—
before settling down with Erica Brausen, the visionary German woman
who launched the career of artist Francis Bacon. The two women
remained together for the rest of their lives. From 1947 to 1973, their
art gallery represented the most important contemporary painters and
sculptors and played a vital role in the history of art and aesthetics.
While parts of Toto Koopman’s life may seem to strain credibility, they
are all true. Indeed, I believe many more facts concerning our beautiful
and eccentric heroine have yet to be revealed. Capturing her essence for
this biography was like trying to extinguish the burning bush—she