Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff
CZENUKFR

Sunday, 31 July 1881

Mlle de Mertens, Weeb, and Klumpke1 came to see my painting — but what I need is Julian or Tony. Without knowing where I stand, I have not the courage to undertake anything else... In short, I am beset by forty uncertainties and anxieties — pity me.

Mademoiselle de Mertens, Weeb, Klumpte sont venues voir mon tableau, mais c'est Julian ou Tony qu'il me faudrait. Comme cela sans savoir ce qu'il en est je n'ai pas le courage d'entreprendre autre chose... Enfin je suis dans quarante incertitudes et inquietudes, plaignez-moi.

Saint Amand and Villevieille around three o'clock. I went with the latter to look for a small garden in Passy; on our return, père Géry comes to call — anxious, like all fathers, about his dear son; I tell him nonsense. Géry has quarrelled with Plon-Plon2 — it was Lachaud who engineered it; Gavini fares no better than Géry — too bad for the prince. Besides, all these people are mad to be in the service of such men! They say the prince is the most dreadful of ingrates; others say so too — but it is precisely such traits that made me fond of this strange Napoleon.3 They say I have no heart, and I imagine he is just like me. Besides — believe me — there is nothing but the Republic. And painting.

Saint Amand et Villevieille vers trois heures. Je suis allee avec cette derniere chercher un jardinet a Passy; au retour c'est la visite du pere Gery que nous avons, il est comme tous les parents inquiet de son cher fils, je lui en dis des betises; il est brouille avec Plon-Plon, c'est Lachaud qui a fait le coup, Gavini n'en sort pas mieux que Gery, tant pis pour le prince. Du reste tous ces gens-la sont fous de servir des hommes ! On dit que le prince est le plus horrible des ingrats, d'autres le disent aussi mais c'est justement ces choses qui me faisaient aimer ce Napoleon etrange. On dit que je n'ai pas de coeur et je m'imagine qu'il est pareil a moi. Du reste croyez-moi, il n'y a que la Republique. Et la peinture.

I was certain I had a magnificent subject: a group of men before an election poster.4 Julian is not enthusiastic about it — and in any case I have not yet found the location.

J'etais certaine d'avoir un sujet magnifique. Un groupe d'hommes devant une affiche electorale. Julian n'en est pas fou, du reste je n'ai pas encore trouve l'emplacement.

Ah! How vexing.

Ah ! que c'est agacant.

Notes

Klumpke: Anna Klumpke (1856–1942), an American-born painter who studied at the Académie Julian and later became a close friend and companion of Rosa Bonheur. Mertens and Weeb are fellow students whose further identification has not been established. ↩
Plon-Plon: the popular nickname of Prince Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte (1822–1891), cousin of Napoleon III and pretender to the Bonapartist succession, known for his difficult temperament and his treatment of those around him. ↩
This strange Napoleon: Marie's characteristic ambivalence — she has followed Plon-Plon's career and politics with interest; his very failings make him fascinating to her. ↩
Election poster: the legislative elections of August–September 1881 (the third elections of the Third Republic) were underway, and campaign posters were displayed throughout Paris — providing Marie with what she saw as a perfectly modern genre-painting subject. ↩