Pierre Reverdy was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism.
15 Facts About Pierre Reverdy
2.
The son of a winegrower, Reverdy was born in Occitanie, in the region of Narbonne, and grew up near the Montagne Noire.
3.
The Pierre Reverdy ancestors were stonemasons and sculptors associated with work commissioned for churches.
4.
Some source material indicates that at the time of Pierre Reverdy's birth, his mother was a married woman whose husband was at the time living in Argentina.
5.
Pierre Reverdy's father schooled him at home, teaching him to read and write.
6.
Pierre Reverdy arrived in Paris in October 1910, devoting his early years there to his writing.
7.
Pierre Reverdy converted to Catholicism and retreated with his wife, Henriette, to a small house located in proximity to a Benedictine abbey at Solesmes.
8.
Besides this, Pierre Reverdy published two volumes containing critical matter entitled En vrac and Le livre de mon bord.
9.
One of Pierre Reverdy's most enduring and profound relationships was with the couturier Coco Chanel.
10.
Pierre Reverdy had always been both appalled and intrigued by the wealth and excess that comprised Chanel's social circle.
11.
Pierre Reverdy had become enamored with American jazz, which had just become a popular craze in Paris, a type of nightlife for which Chanel expressed contempt.
12.
Pierre Reverdy bolstered his confidence, supported his creative ability and further helped assuage his financial instability by secretly buying his manuscripts through his publisher.
13.
Purportedly, Pierre Reverdy was not fully aware of the extent of Chanel's wartime collaboration with the Nazis.
14.
Further, as a staunch Catholic, Pierre Reverdy was able to absolve Chanel of her transgressions.
15.
English translations of Pierre Reverdy's work have appeared in a smattering of volumes over the years, most of which are now out of print but still available used.