Letter from Marie Laurencin, Paris?, to Paul Rosenberg, 1953 October 19 : autograph manuscript signed.

She was supposed to go to Switzerland to paint portraits of the Italian princesses, but it seemed questionable to her. It was for September, and she didn't feel like going to Switzerland. She [and Suzanne] have drawn up a catalogue for her library, including books by Giraudoux, Paul Valéry, André Gide, and Valéry Larbaud, just to mention the ones currently in vogue. Many more by less tiresome authors: they'll be judged in the future. These days people are talking about three very Russian books by [Henri] Troyat. Marguerite Yourcenar is in Scandinavia. She's finding it difficult to sleep. She appears to be reading about the twelve Roman Emperors of Suetonius and speaks of Emperor Augustus. She's working slowly but the best she can. She'll be 70 on October 31. E. de B. [Etienne de Beaumont] is seriously ill. He's been released from the American hospital having had meningitis. She says that that doesn't change anything about whatever dealings they're having [probably the apartment problem]. She wants to return to the Champ de Mars [rue Savorgnan-de-Brazza]. She's not going to talk to him about the current state of painting. It looks like little squares they drew when they were children, and she doesn't understand it at all. It makes her feel as though she's getting an electric shock. She's seen a young doctor from Normandy for Suzanne. The doctor is a friend of Jacques Villon. She had to leave his living room--there were all kinds of paintings by Marcel Duchamp.