GENTRY CONNECTS

Villa Picolette, Antibes, F Scott Fitzgerald

“Villa Picolette” in Antibes is for sale for $35.5 million! This jewel on the French Riviera was rented by F. Scott Fitzgerald between 1922-24 and where he began the creation of his 4^th and finest novel, Tender is the Night.

Zelda Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Long Island, World War II

Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald in Antibes in 1926. This was a crazy time of creativity, partying and too much booze! The Great Gatsby, inspired by Long Island north shore parties and finished in France, did not achieve success until revival during World War II after Fitzgerald’s 1940 death.

The book cover for Tender is the Night shows “Villa Picolette” through the pines on a beautiful bay in Antibes.

Gerald and Sara Murphy, Nicole and Dick Diver, La Garoupe

Glamorous and wealthy American expats, Gerald and Sara Murphy, were an inspiration for “Nicole and Dick Diver” in the novel. The Murphy’s golden circle of friends included the Fitzgeralds, Picasso, Stravinsky, Ernest Hemingway, and nearly all the famous creatives of the period. They loved gathering at Antibes’s La Garoupe, their private playground in the sun. Gerald loved “going “native” in a striped jersey, espadrilles, and knitted fisherman’s cap.

What a beautiful living room at “Villa Picolette.” Location, location, location, with views and history as a bonus!

You can imagine F. Scott and Zelda having martinis in this dining room. He was a severe alcoholic at the time and Zelda was spiraling with mental illness. Hemingway told her she was “crazy.” Zelda was hospitalized for schizophrenia in 1932.

A bedroom in the villa.

Have you seen any version of The Great Gatsby, and what do you think of the most recent adaptation?

***Youtube video of “Villa Picolette.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om60AuLiGbU

***Great Youtube video (Part 1 of 5 available) about the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_g-0u1wfNc

Jacque-Henri Lartique, 35mm camera, Rome, Myanmar

I love photography and the masters of the medium like Jacque-Henri Lartique (1894-1986), truly one of the greats!

I bought my first 35mm camera when I was 12 and have chronicled my life and family ever since. Henry, the family beagle, was my first subject, obediently sitting with hopes of a treat. Later, my camera and I found ourselves in the middle of a large riot in Rome, and in the middle of a novitiate ceremony for a son of one of the ruling generals of Myanmar in Yangon. I was drawn to photo journalism and would have pursued that course if fate hadn’t pushed me into a career in decorative fabrics. The image above shows Lartique, the genius behind the lens.

New York Museum of Modern Art, photography, Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, Paris

Lartique took thousands of pictures in what could be called a “family album.” He was considered an amateur until New York’s Museum of Modern Art “discovered” his talents and held a retrospective of his works in 1963 when Lartique was 69. From that moment on he was considered the “father of modern photography.” He snapped this shot of a woman on the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne in Paris when he was 17.

Sunday walkers in Deauville 1914.

He loved unusual action shots like this woman jumping from the stairs.

In the early 20^th century

France

was crazy about car racing, aviation and sports. Lartique really captured speed in this photograph.

A trio dressed for adventure and the elements in the back of a car.

In the early 20’s French high society and the creative set began summering in the South of

France

. This is Lartique’s first wife Bibi, having lunch at Eden Roc at Cap d’Antibes, a favorite haunt of the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Picasso. I remember seeing more bodyguards than customers the last time we had lunch at the Hotel du Cap Eden Roc.