[POUGY] GHIKA, George (1884-1945)

[POUGY] GHIKA, George (1884-1945)

Autograph letter signed « Georges Ghika » to Liane de Pougy, princesse Ghika
N.p, 8th june 1923, 1 p. in-8°, blue ink on beige paper

Prince Ghika celebrates the thirteenth anniversary of his marriage to Liane de Pougy through a singular and graphic “cantata”

« Cantate pour le 13e anniversaire de notre mariage.
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
Encore, encore, encore, encore,
P. Georges Ghika »

A central figure among the courtesans of the Belle Époque, Liane de Pougy (1869-1950) married secondly, on June 8, 1910, the Romanian Prince Georges Ghika (1884-1945), nephew of Queen Nathalie of Serbia, fifteen years her junior. Their marriage was perfectly happy for sixteen years, until Ghika abruptly left her, in July 1926, for the ultimate conquest of his wife (who was openly bisexual), a young artist of twenty-three, “cute and delicate” Manon Thiébaut, whom he took to Romania. After this separation, Liane de Pougy will find her former love, Nathalie Clifford Barney (1876-1972). They will form with Mimi Franchetti (1893-1943) a ménage à trois. Threatened with divorce, the prince eventually returns to her, but their relationship becomes difficult and chaotic.