Letter from Marie Laurencin, Châtel-Guyon, to Paul Rosenberg, 1950 August 23 : autograph manuscript signed.

She's taking the cure with Suzanne [Moreau] in Châtel-Guyon, in Auvergne. She says that the situation in Korea is not good. The South Americans left first; the North Americans are staying awhile longer. Tourists are heading for Spain and Italy this year. She says she couldn't go to New York. Where would she live? She has awakened every morning for 2 or 3 years with the idea that her death would put an end to all her annoying everyday problems, from her washerwoman's bills to the problem with her rent. Being a single woman is no fun, especially since she doesn't know how to take care of her affairs. The tax collector came to see her. Whether or not Mr. and Mrs. E. de B. [Etienne de Beaumont] sell the apartment, she doesn't think she can stay there--it's too luxurious. Living in her studio is not great, but it is well heated and better than nothing. The problem with the apartment on the rue Savorgnan hasn't been resolved yet. She'll see what's going on with her paintings when she gets back to Paris, but she's feeling somber. Matisse's latest show was beautiful and elegant. She talks about a woman there sitting in a chair that exemplifies the age with its greens and bright purples--a young, fresh painting that quickly begins to go stale. The old paintings seem dirty to her, but she doesn't know why. She sees news of Picasso in the movies and the newspapers--like a god. He's becoming vulgar. She says he's very far-sighted and one can see that he's painting from far away without eyeglasses. At Jeanne Castel's there was a small, charmingly exhibition of women painters since Mary Cassatt. There were even pretty paintings of flowers by [Jacqueline] Marval. No one talked about it. In France, no one is interested in women. She's happy to have reached the age she's at now. She'd like to go away, but not to the US, for good. One can ask why she takes the cure. It's to be able to think freely, without sadness. She doesn't like to feel morose. What makes her feel that way most the time is physical. She says that Picasso and Matisse are right to go live in the south of France, as well as Braque in Varengeville [in Normandy]. They have enough money to do so. Nicole Groult has written to her from Brittany, where she's having a wonderful time at the home of very wealthy people. Everyone is in a bad way. She's apprehensive about returning to Paris. She's started a portrait of or for a South American woman. She adds that she's enclosing a letter she received from America. She says she never illustrated 40 books. Maybe Rosenberg's son [Alexandre] can check on what all this is about. But she wrote back to the man to thank him for his interest in her engravings. She thinks that a lot of fakes are involved.