French Sketches: Cap d'Antibes and the Murphys
French Sketches, #1
Reeks: French Sketches
Paul A. Myers
- Gerald
- and
- Sara
- Murphy,
- a
- wealthy
- young
- American
- couple,
- arrived
- in
- Paris
- in
- 1921
- and
- walked
- into
- the
- Modernist
- cultural
- revolution
- sweeping
- through
- France.
- They
- were
- charter
- members
- of
- the
- Lost
- Generation
- chronicled
- so
- poignantly
- by
- Ernest
- Hemingway
- in
- "The
- Sun
- Also
- Rises."
- In
- fact,
- they
- were
- with
- Hemingway
- at
- Pamploona,
- Spain
- in
- 1926
- for
- the
- famous
- running
- of
- the
- bulls.The
- Murphy
- legend
- began
- earlier
- in
- the
- summer
- of
- 1922
- when
- songwriter
- Cole
- Porter,
- a
- friend
- of
- Gerald's
- at
- Yale,
- invited
- the
- couple
- to
- beautiful
- Cap
- d'Antibes
- on
- the
- French
- Riviera.
- Normally
- in
- that
- era,
- people
- did
- not
- vacation
- on
- the
- Riviera
- in
- the
- summer,
- but
- the
- Murphys
- were
- enchanted
- with
- the
- area.
- They
- bought
- a
- spacious
- villa
- on
- Cap
- d'Antibes,
- remodeled
- it,
- and
- moved
- in
- the
- summer
- of
- 1925,
- christening
- their
- new
- home
- Villa
- America.A
- glittering
- array
- of
- guests
- found
- their
- way
- to
- the
- gardened
- terrace
- of
- the
- graciously
- entertaining
- Murphys:
- Scott
- and
- Zelda
- Fitzgerald,
- Pablo
- Picasso
- and
- other
- notable
- artists
- of
- the
- Paris
- avant
- garde,
- Hemingway,
- John
- Dos
- Passos,
- Archibald
- MacLeish,
- and
- the
- colorful
- Dorothy
- Parker.
- Fitzgerald
- modeled
- the
- characters
- Dick
- and
- Nicole
- Diver
- in
- his
- novel
- Tender
- is
- the
- Night
- on
- the
- Murphys.
- During
- the
- 1920s,
- Gerald
- took
- up
- painting
- and
- earned
- a
- reputation
- for
- a
- well-crafted
- series
- of
- precisionist
- paintings
- foreshadowing
- future
- Pop
- Art
- trends.In
- the
- 1930s
- misfortune
- befell
- the
- Murphys
- as
- first
- one
- son
- contracted
- an
- ultimately
- fatal
- case
- of
- tuberculosis
- while
- a
- second
- son
- died
- suddenly
- from
- meningitis
- at
- prep
- school.
- At
- the
- same
- time,
- financial
- ruin
- almost
- overtook
- the
- family's
- Mark
- Cross
- luxury
- goods
- business
- in
- New
- York
- and
- the
- Murphys
- sailed
- back
- to
- America
- to
- rescue
- their
- business
- and
- their fortunes.
