Winnaretta de Polignac
Birthname: Singer
Date of birth: 8 January 1865
Date of death: 26 November 1943
Category: collector, philanthropist
Identity:
Winnaretta Singer was the twentieth daughter of Isaac Merritt Singer, the sewing machine industrialist and Isabelle Singer, née Boyer. She was the sister of Isabelle-Blanche, Duchesse Decazes de Glucksbierg. In 1893 she married Edmond, Prince de Polignac, a composer, was the youngest son of Charles X's minister Jules de Polignac. She had two marriages and several lesbian relationships.
Life:
She was a philanthropist, a patron of the arts and particularly of composers including Debussy and Ravel, and funded a musical Salon in Paris. After her death, her legacy of was carried on through the work of the Fondation Singer-Polignac.
She was a friend of the artist Jacques-Emile Blanche. She and her husband were frequent visitors to Dieppe. In 1905 she bought Pink and Grey: Three Figures y089 and Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Gardens y166, but sold the latter a year later.
Bibliography:
Kahan, Sylvia, Music's Modern Muse: A Life of Winnaretta Singer, Princesse de Polignac, Rochester, New York, 2003; Jacques-Emile Blanche peintre (1861-1942) exhibition catalogue, Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen, 1997, pp. 44, 210. 'Winnaretta Singer', Wikipedia.
