THE WOMAN BEHIND THE ART: FRANCINE WEISWEILLER
7 minute read
Louise Ebel, author and creative director, explores the forgotten figure behind Santo Sospir, the 'tattooed villa' tucked away in Cap Ferrat.
‘A room of one's own’ wrote Virginia Woolf, is all that an artist needs in order to create. A room or, in this case, a house. Over time, many artists have turned their homes into extensions of their work, leading them to become illustrious places still widely admired and visited today. We think of Leonardo da Vinci and the Clos Lucé, Claude Monet and Giverny, or Jean Cocteau and the ‘tattooed’ villa of Santo Sospir. Except we're wrong, because contrary to the legend, the magnificent Santo Sospir, perched high above Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, was never the property of the iconic French artist, but belonged to Francine Weisweiller, a woman whose star was swallowed by that, too bright, of her dear friend Cocteau.
Born in Brazil to Jewish parents, Francine was heir to an industrial fortune, and a poignant figure in the glistening social scene of post-war Paris. Editor, patron of the arts, astute collector, and fashion icon, Francine was more than just a supporting actress in a cast of soon-to-be legends, befriending the likes of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and later Yves Saint Laurent. From her towering Santo Sospir villa in the Cote d'Azur, and its 150 steps leading to sea, she reigned over the French Riviera.
The house was bought in 1947, and furnished with lavish antique pieces carefully selected by interior designer and antiques dealer Madeleine Castaing, another overlooked icon of the era. In 1950, Francine met Cocteau on the set of his movie The Testament of Orpheus (in which she played a small part), and invited him to stay at the villa. It was on this visit that Cocteau began working on the first of his ‘tattooed’ frescoes on the villa walls, thus propelling Santo Sospir to international recognition as a shining light in 20th century artistic avant-garde.
Originally, the walls of Santo Sospir were a radiant white. Why, indeed, risk ruining them with heavy wallpaper when the divine light of the Riviera sun was to be their most precious adornment? But to Cocteau, they ‘screamed their boredom’, he declared whilst tracing a majestic Apollo over the living-room's stone chimney, flanked by two fishermen who drew comparison to Cocteau’s ex-lover, Jean Marais. When his friend Matisse came to view Cocteau’s finished work, he remarked ‘when one decorates a wall, one decorates the others’, and Cocteau complied.
'FROM ROOM TO ROOM, CELESTIAL FIGURES WITH PIERCING EYES STARTED TO APPEAR, TRANSFORMING THE HOUSE INTO A COSMOS OF A THOUSAND CONSTELLATIONS, A SYNCRETIC PANTHEON ABUNDANT WITH MYTHS, SOMETIMES DOTTED WITH BIOGRAPHICAL ALLUSIONS.'
Over the course of six months, the first of many extended periods he would spend at Santo Sospir, the painter continuously added to his creation, letting his imagination run freely by ‘drawing upon the skin’ (by his own admission) of the villa's walls. Carefully executed, although never planned, he came to view his shadowless figures with delicate outlines as tattoos. In profit of Cocteau's need for simplicity, his works remained predominantly in black, with the occasional use of a vivid blue that echoed the sea, or a golden yellow. The only exception is the fresco that adorns the staircase, the complicated creation of which caused Cocteau to fall many times.
From room to room, celestial figures with piercing eyes started to appear, transforming the house into a cosmos of a thousand constellations, a syncretic pantheon abundant with myths, sometimes dotted with biographical allusions. Slowly, he turned his eye to the furniture and decorative items, leaving no element untouched by the artists brush. A suave shepherd guarded over a wrought iron bed, while a local fisherman's net enclosed a library.
It is often said that houses have a soul, but it is especially true in the case of Santo Sospir, for the magical hands of Cocteau gave it life, infusing its walls with a surrealistic magic. At times, the villa almost seems to breathe, so it is really a coincidence if the word in French (‘respire’) sounds so similar to Sospir?
It is due to the vision of Francine Weisweiller that Cocteau was able to express himself entirely, investing in the whole space, and therefore creating what could possibly considered as the first real total artwork. The legend of Cocteau and the tattooed villa was born, and remains to this day, inspiring and drawing many to the luscious beaches of the French Riviera, where the sun king still reigns supreme.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LOUISE EBEL
A creator of cultural content, Louise has dedicated much of her career to championing the forgotten history of women, especially female artists of the late 19th century.
JOURNEY
FROM ST TROPEZ TO MENTON
Explore Villa Santo Sospir with author and artistic director Louise Ebel, as part of a journey through the French Riviera.
