History Pages
The essence of it all
On July 28, 1962, Ge rald Murphy, the inspiration for Dr. Richard Diver’ s character from « Tender is the Night », gave an interview to « The New Yorker ». Gerald had outlived Fitzgerald, who died of a heart attack in 1940, by twenty-four years. He recalled his first impressions of the book, compared to his feelings in his older age: « It was strange for Sara( Gerald’ s wife— Ed.) and myself to be reading this novel. Sara disliked it there and then and could never reconcile with it. I have recently reread it— for the first time since it was published. And I must say it did seem quite nice to me. All the conversations and events were taking me back to what we experienced on the Riviera— our pastime, our discussions, our quarrels. But, as Sara said then:” Mr. Fitzgerald does not know much about people. And absolutely nothing about Gerald and myself”.» It wasn’ t just the Murphy’ s who had taken issue with the outcome of the novel. Ge rald Murphy and Ernest Hemingway( who had been « discovered » by Fitzgerald when he was working for a Toronto newspaper and introduced the novice writer to his agent and editor, Maxwell Perkins) hinted to Fitzgerald that towards the end of his novel he had distorted the once very recognizable characters from the first chapters. Fitzgerald’ s response both acknowledged and dismissed their concerns: « My book is a fruit of inspiration, and the source of inspiration are yourself, Dick, and your wife Sara. This is how I see you and your life, and the second half of the book is all about me and Zelda. And this is all because me and Zelda are actually you and Sara...»
The evolution of the Riviera
Towards the end of the 18th century, the once desolate land from Saint- Tropez to the French-Italian border, where the tanned fishermen and lean olive oil makers barely made ends meet, transformed into a privileged holiday destination of the British aristocracy. This happened thanks to the travel notes of Englishman Tobias Smolett, dated 1765. The rumour of fantastic sunsets and the warm breezes of Nice and Cannes spread all over Europe starting the overwhelming mass of « British patients »( a Scottish physician John Brown recommended the « free moving air » to all his consumption patients). Less than a century later, in the 1850s, the Prince of Monaco, Charles III, together with a French entrepreneur François Blanc opened a casino in Monte-Carlo. That’ s when treasures of the famous European houses, including the Rothschild clan, started flowing into the Riviera. The name of « La Côte d’ Azur » was adopted for this strip of paradise in 1887, thanks to the French poet and politician, Stéphen François Emile Liégeard, who published a book by that title. By the early 1920s, the French Riviera was changing again. The catastrophe of the First World War plummeted the European economies, making the dollar a strong currency, and flooded the Côte d’ Azur with a joyful crowd of Americans. The young « Yankees » came to discover new trends in European art and science … and a new lifestyle.
Setting the scene
Mr. Gerald Clery Murphy was the son of an industrial tycoon from Boston, and owner of the Mark Cross Company trading in genuine leather products. Back at Yale University where Gerald was only admitted on his third attempt, he met a young musician Cole Porter, who composed such jazz masterpieces as « I love you », « Night and Day » and « Begin the Beguine ». Gerald introduced Cole to the elite DKE circle; a student organization whose mission( to this day) is enlightening highly educated gentlemen. That’ s when Gerald came up with the noble idea of creating a community of progressive artists, writers and musicians with the help of his father’ s wealth.
Gerald and Sara Murphy later in life, in 1963
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald with her daughter Scottie
In 1921, Gerald and his wife Sara( née Wiborg, daughter of American « ink king » Frank Wiborg) move to Paris from « stuffy » New York. Both Murphy and Wiborg’ s families had disapproved of their marriage, mainly because Sara was five years his senior. During Diaghilev’ s « Russian season » in Paris, the Murphys volunteered to help with the decorations for « Scheherazade », « Pulcinella » and other productions. They met most of their European acquaintances during these performances. They eventually bought a small villa with an exotic garden in Antibes and named it Villa America. The Murphy’ s legendary New York style hospitality attracted such figures as Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Ernest Hemingway, Jean Cocteau, Archibald MacLeish, and Igor Stravinsky. In the spring of 1924, Gerald and Sara become friends with the Fitzgerald couple.
I have to stand out in everything that I do … I must assert myself … I cannot live without being loved, act without being praised …
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Hello Monaco Spring – Summer 2018 / 85