The quest that never ends. flying to London to meet up with art historian colleagues and documentary film producers in search of more clues regarding the elusive Mrs. Brooks. The hope is to produce a documentary that may peak interest and lead to the missing paintings of Romaine Brooks.
What we have discovered so far is a story oft repeated in the annals of the history of art. In Romaine’s case a shame-based family history that led to many of her letters, books, drawings and paintings ending up at a flea market where they disappeared into the chaos that often follows a once renown artist’s possessions after long neglect. Such is the case with Brooks.
Thus far I have restored two paintings and a couple of drawings to her legacy and I am on the trail of others. Among the ones I seek are the other half of the famous Couteau portrait. Romaine took a dislike to Couteau and cut this painting in half. The missing half featured two young women on the balcony. One was thought to be Natalie Barney’s sister, Laura. In the course of my research, I located a letter referring to this painting being involved in a lawsuit of some sort wherein the plaintive contacted Romaine in hopes of winning his claim to the missing picture.
So where does this leave the earnest researcher/historian? Up in the air more or less unless they have the funds to travel and put in the required time to track down the missing clues and contact the surviving members of an individual’s family to see if a trail exists. It is a “cold-case” situation. So for those of you who follow the adventures, I lead stay tuned for future updates relating to Romaine and her circle.
Rediscovering Romaine Brooks 