Capricious Cohorts: Rene Gimpel's Associates, Rivals, and Patrons

Abstract

Diana J. Kostyrko The French antiquarian René Gimpel (1881–1945) first met the modernist designer-bookbinder Rose Adler on July 23, 1930. Her friend, Ilian de Casa-Fuerte, a Spanish nobleman and Parisian writer, brought her to Gimpel’s residence at 16 rue Spontini, the superb former mansion (since destroyed) of the late couturier, collector, and philanthropist, Jacques Doucet (1853–1929) . Adler, a protégée of his, was delighted to revisit the house’s splendor and she recorded that she felt Doucet’s presence there still. Gimpel, for his part, would discover a rejuvenating spirit in Adler which encouraged him to approach modern art and artists more inclusively.