Mabel Dodge Sterne Luhan, née Ganson (February 26, 1879 - August 13, 1962) was a wealthy American patron of the arts, and a key figure in the Greenwich Village community in the years 1912 – 1916. Her personal life was turbulent. She is particularly associated with the colony of artists who settled in Taos, New Mexico. February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Greenwich Village (pronounced Grennich Village; also known as the West Village or simply the Village) is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern) Manhattan in New York City. ... Taos can mean Taos Pueblo, a Native American Pueblo Taos, a city in northern New Mexico Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico, a ski resort village in New Mexico Taos County, New Mexico Taos, Missouri TAOS, or True Access Operating System, used in Lucent networking products Taos, an operating system for... Official language(s) English and Spanish Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 5th 315,194 km² 550 km 595 km 0. ...

Early Life

Mabel Ganson was the heiress of a wealthy banker from Buffalo, New York. Her first marriage, at the age of 21, was to Carl Evans, the son of a steamship owner in 1900. They had one son. Carl died in a hunting accident two and half years later and left her a widow at the age of 23.^[1] She then married Edwin Dodge, a wealthy architect, in 1903. Nickname: City of Good Neighbors Motto: Official website: Buffalo, NY Location Location of Buffalo in New York State Government County Erie County Mayor Byron Brown Geographical characteristics Area 136. ...

Florence

Mabel and Edwin lived in Florence from 1905 to 1912. At her palatial Medici villa — the Villa Curonia — in Arcetri, not far from Florence she entertained local artists, as well as Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo along with other visitors from Paris, including André Gide. A troubled liaison with her chauffeur led to two suicide attempts: the first was by eating figs with shards of glass; the second with laudanum.^[2] Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ... The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the 13th to 17th century. ... The Torre del Gallo in Arcetri Arcetri is a region of Florence in the hills to the south of the city centre. ... Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ... Gertrude Stein, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1935 Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874, in Pittsburgh - July 27, 1946) was an American writer, poet, feminist, playwright and catalyst in the development of modern art and literature, who spent most of her life in France. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... André Paul Guillaume Gide (November 22, 1869 – February 19, 1951) was a French author and, at times, a spokesman for gay rights (disputed — see talk page). ...

New York

In mid 1912, Mabel and Edwin (who by this time were becoming estranged) returned to America, and she began to set herself up as a patron of the arts, holding a weekly 'salon' in her new apartment at 23 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Often in attendence were such luminaries as Carl Van Vechten, Margaret Sanger, Emma Goldman, Charles Demuth, "Big Bill" Heywood, Lincoln Steffens, and John Reed. Van Vechten took Dodge as the model for the character "Edith Dale" in his novel Peter Whiffle. Photographic self-portrait by Carl Van Vechten, 1934 Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... Margaret Sanger. ... Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Lithuanian-born anarcho-communist known for her anarchist writings and speeches. ... Charles Demuth (November 9, 1883 - October 23, 1935) was an American precisionist painter. ... Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866–August 9, 1936), American journalist, was one of the most famous and influential practitioners of the journalistic style called muckraking. ... John Reed John Jack Silas Reed (October 22, 1887 – October 19, 1920) was a journalist and communist activist, famous for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ten Days that Shook the World. ...

She was involved in the creation of the Armory Show of 1913, and she published in pamphlet form a piece by Gertrude Stein, "Portrait of Mabel Dodge at the Villa Curonia," which Mabel distributed at the exhibition. This brought her to public attention. Armory Show poster. ...

She sailed to Europe at the end of June 1913. Her new acquiantance John Reed ('Jack') — worn out from having recently organized the Paterson Pageant — travelled with her. They becoame lovers after arriving in Paris, where they socialized with Stein and Pablo Picasso. They moved down to the Villa Curonia, where the guests this time included Artur Rubinstein. At first this was a very happy time for Mabel and Jack, but then tension grew between the two as Jack grew uncomfortable with the affluent isolation and Mabel saw his interests in the world of people and achievements as a rejection of her.^[3] They returned to New York in late September 1913 and Jack moved into 23 Fifth Avenue, but the tension only grew worse and in late November Jack left. Later Mabel followed Jack as far as El Paso when he went to report on the insurgency in Mexico.^[4] Young Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Full name) (October 25, 1881 in Málaga, Spain – April 8, 1973) was a Spanish painter. ... Arthur Rubinstein photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Artur Rubinstein (January 28, 1887 – December 20, Polish pianist best known for his performances of Chopin and his championing of Spanish music. ... This article needs cleanup. ...

Mabel became a nationally syndicated columnist for the Herst organization.^[5]

Jack proposed marriage in January 1916, but she rejeted him.^[6] She moved to Finney Farm, a large Croton estate. Maurice Sterne, who was to become Mabel's third husband, was staying in a cottage behind the main house. Mabel offered Jack the third floor of the house as a writing studio; he moved in for a short while but the situation was untenable. Croton may also refer to a plant genus. ...

Later that year, 1916, Mabel married Maurice. He was a painter.

Taos

In 1919 Mabel Dodge Sterne, her husband Maurice, and Elsie Clews Parsons moved to Taos^[7], New Mexico, and started a literary colony there. On the advice of Tony Luhan, a Native American whom she would marry in 1923, she bought a 12 acre property. Tony set up a teepee in front of the small house and drummed there each night until Mabel came to him. Maurice bought a shotgun with the intention of chasing Tony off the property, but he was unable to use it, and simply took to insulting Mabel. Mabel sent Maurice away, and supported him with monthly payments until their divorce four years later.^[8] A Hupa man, 1923 The scope of this indigenous peoples of the Americas article encompasses the definitions of indigenous peoples and the Americas as established in their respective articles. ...

D H Lawrence, the English author, accepted an invitation from her to stay in Taos and he arrived, with Frieda his wife, in early September 1922. He had a fraught relationship with his hostess and wrote about this in his fiction. Mabel later published a memoir about his visit entitled, Lorenzo in Taos (1932). D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 - 2 March 1930) was one of the most important, certainly one of the most controversial, English writers of the 20th century, who wrote novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, and letters. ... Frieda von Richthofen (August 11, 1879 - August 11, 1956), a distant relative of the Red Baron Manfred von Richthofen, became famous as the wife of the British novelist D. H. Lawrence. ...

Mabel Dodge Luhan died at her home in Taos in 1962 and was buried in Kit Carson Cemetery.

References

• Janet Byrne, A Genius for Living: A biography of Frieda Lawrence, Bloomsbury, 1995. ISBN 0-7475-1284-1.
• Christine Stansell, American Moderns: Bohemian New York and the Creation of a New Century, Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt & Co, 2000. ISBN 0-8050-4847-2.
• Robert A. Rosenstone, Romantic Revolutionary: A biography of John Reed, Harvard University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-674-77938-X.

Notes

1. ^  Byrne, op. cit. page 267
2. ^  Byrne, op. cit. page 267
3. ^  Rosenstone, op. cit. pages 137 – 145
4. ^  Stansell, op. cit. page 187.
5. ^  Byrne, op. cit. page 268
6. ^  Rosenstone, op. cit. page 204
7. ^  Stansell, op. cit. pages 317 – 318
8. ^  Byrne, op. cit. page 269