Dallas Museum of Art - Reves Exhibit
Wynnelle Russell was a small town girl from Hallsville,
Texas. Born in May of 1916, to David
Lafayette, and Blanche Russell. She modeled in the San Antonio, Texas area as a young girl. At the
young age of 17, married Al Schroeder, a West Point Graduate, together they
had one son, Arnold Leon Schroeder Jr.
After her short marriage, she travelled to New York, and began modeling
in 1939. With her new location, and career, came a new
name, Wendy. The 1940’s brought her
celebrity, gracing the pages of Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar as a well-known
fashion model. There was a second
marriage to Paul Baron, a pianist, conductor, and leader of a Big Band
Orchestra bearing his name, in 1940. The
marriage lasted 6 years.
Through social circles
in New York, Wendy met Emery Reves, a famous literary agent and author of
“Anatomy of Peace”, in 1945 a bestselling novel discussing the “World Peace
Movement”, proposing a world order, and recording the horrors of WWII. Reves literary client list included influential people; Winston
Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Lord Montgomery. Successful, and prominent, he captivated
the beautiful Wendy, and became the love of her life.
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Source DMA |
Reves adored beautiful things; art, antiques,
and Wendy. Together, the two wandered the globe while acquiring treasures. Paintings included in their personal collection of post-war impressionist,
and impressionist include; Renoir, Cezanne, and Pissarro. Ultimately, in 1953, Emery, and Wendy
purchased La Pausa, Coco Chanel’s Mediterranean Villa. Included with the sale
were some works of art, books, and furnishings.
Coco Chanel built La Pausa in 1927, as a refuge for she, and her then
lover, The Duke of Westminster. Chanel
enlisted famed architect Robert Streitz to design the refuge in reflection of
the French orphanage, Aubazine Abbey, in Correze, France, where Chanel lived for six years as a young girl. Elements of the Abbey can be seen recreated at La Pausa; the arches in the courtyard, the interior stairwell, the two story section built to resemble a tower at the Abbey.
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Source; Abazine Abby |
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One of the windows at Aubazine Abbey, notice the interlocking of circles. Thought to be the inspiration for Chanel's interlocking "C". |
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Source; Lacorreze.com The Abbey today, notice the similarities between the tower here and La Pausa. |
The villa would be graceful, and stately; a courtyard entrance through archways, springing from atop Doric columns. The home built in a “U” shape possessed classic balance, a bright clay tiled roof, and a repeat of five small square windows; above the entrance, then again along the second story. Channel’s supposed favorite number, was five. Chanel made visits back to Correze in an effort to capture details of the Abby, recreating them at La Pausa. The Abby must have been a happy place for her, a place of reflection, and of inspiration.
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Source; Sotheby's International Realty
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Chanel at La Pausa, source DMA |
At the time that La Pause passed from Chanel to the Reves, it was in a bit of disrepair. The Reves took care in restoring it to it's original beauty. There, they held many a dinner party, entertained prominent guest, and opened their home to Winston Churchill, each summer. Churchill spent the summer months penning his life's work, "A History of An English Speaking Peoples", with Emery. He also painted away lazy summer days, in the gardens of La Pausa.
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Source; DMA Winston Churchill, Emery, and Wendy Reves; at La Pausa |
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Source; Sotheby' International Realty, The façade Entry at La Pause, note the five windows
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Recently, Mr. GDC had a business meeting in Dallas, I went along. On a lazy afternoon while
Mr. GDC was in a meeting, I walked the nine blocks from the hotel to DMA for an afternoon
of art. As I rounded a corner there was
an entrance, a beautiful architectural entrance, my heart raced a bit, I
wondered what is this? Reading the guided tour information, picking up the
supplied booklet I was amazed. DMA has
created a unique, and stunning experience for visitors to the museum, to not
only visit the art, to view it as a “guest” in its original environment. From room, to room, I was awe struck. I had no previous knowledge of Wendy, and Emery Reves. Yet through the exhibit, became enchanted.
Wandering into a small alcove, I was greeted with
photographs of Winston Churchill, letters penned by Churchill to Wendy, and
paintings, works by Churchill painted while he took holiday at La Pausa. Churchill, a close friend of the Reves. Emery
assisted Churchill in publishing his life’s work “A History of the English- Speaking Peoples", much of the work written while at La Pausa.
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Source; personal photo of the library exhibit, DMA
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Source, personal photo of DMA exhibit
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Source, personal photo of DMA exhibit.
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Source, personal photo of DMA exhibit
Above the fireplace one of a pair of sunburst clocks, owned by Chanel, hangs in its original location; both under Chanel, and the Reves' ownership
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Above, "In The Studio, (Georges Riviere and Marguerite Legrand)", Renoir, 1877, hangs just above an antique footstool.
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Source, personal photo of DMA exhibit |
The dining table, and chairs, original pieces owned by Chanel, then passed to the Reves. The long table located at the end of the dining room, a piece from Chanel, originally used as a desk by Chanel, and as a serving piece by Wendy.
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Source, DMA, Wendy Reves, painting by Graham Sutherland, 1978 |
Wendy, before passing, met with the curators of the Dallas Museum of Art, arranging for she, and Emery's collection of art, and antiques to be donated to the museum. In the most interesting exhibit I have seen. The museum carefully, and artfully reconstructed La Pausa, within the Dallas Museum of Art. The unique exhibit, and manor of exhibiting the art, allows visitors the fantasy of visiting the villa. For additional information on the history of the La Pausa exchange, Dallas Museum of Art published a book; "From Chanel to Reves; La Pausa and Its Collections at the Dallas Museum of Art", available here through Amazon.
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Source |
September, 2015 La Pausa sold once again, this time returning
back to its origins, The House of Chanel purchased the home. It is once again part of the Chanel
empire. For those of us in America,
Dallas Museum of Art, has provided a rare opportunity, to visit the beautiful
La Pausa in Dallas. If you are near
Dallas, the exhibit is truly worth a visit. An experience that will remain with me,
always –
Wishing you all the best, until next time -
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