Janeavrilpainting johndouglas
17 creative works found
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In the asylum Jane became a favourite of the nuns. One of her mother’s many lovers also took an interest her. She came under the care of Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot, and his trainee Sigmund Freud, experts on “female hysterics” and she calmed down. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (2 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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Released to the streets of Paris at age sixteen, Jane worked at whatever day jobs were available. But she became depressed and was saved from throwing herself in the Seine by a young medical student passing by. She became his lover and he took her to a little club known as the Bal Bullier. She was so happy she got up and started to dance. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (4 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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After stints as a rider at the Hippodrome in the Avenue de l’Alma, and as a cashier at the World’s Fair of 1889 in the same year, Jane began as a professional dancer at the Moulin Rouge. She soon became a featured solo dancer. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (6 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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In 1895, the owners of the Moulin Rouge offered her a great deal of money to take on the risky task of replacing the most famous dancer in Paris – La Goulue. Graceful, soft-spoken, and melancholic, Jane Avril gave a refined, sensitive dance presentation – the opposite of the very bodacious La Goulue. Nevertheless, the club’s patrons adored her and she became one of the most recognizable names of the Parisian nightlife. She was popular at other venues in Paris and abroad, with a touring schedule including a comedic role in The Belle of New York and even a tragic part in a production of Peer Gynt. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (8 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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When not performing, she frequented Parisian literary circles and was a regular spectator on the café-concert scene. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (9 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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The couple moved to a home in Jouy-en-Josas at the outskirts of Paris. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (13 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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However, like her father, her husband soon began to stray, often disappearing for days at a time, and for years she lived a miserable existence with the irresponsible Biais. Without any financial support following his death in 1926, Avril lived in near poverty on what little was left of her own savings. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (14 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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She remained in provincial poverty and anonymity except for a single return, in later life, to a Paris she no longer recognized. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (15 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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Her admirers somehow tracked her down and, in 1941, arranged a celebratory “grand finale” for her in the capital. / text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (16 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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There the white-haired Jane improvised a mesmerizing dance that brought back the grace of earlier years. Jane Avril died in a seniors’ home in 1943 at the age of 75. Before she died she looked back on her famous career and said: / “ I have fluttered my way through our epoch without revealing an inkling of the depths of my innermost soul…” text by Victor Barker The Life of Jane Avril (17 of 17) / acrylic and aquarelle on two panels Victor Barker on RB
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