There is a lovely book that is a combination of artist’s life and cookbook published in the United States under the title Cézanne and the Provençal Table (New York: Clarkson Potter, 1995). The English translator is uncredited.
On page 74 we find:
Marion was another of his important childhood friends. As well as being an amateur painter, she was a geologist. They often went to Mont Sainte-Victoire, and it was during the excursions and their long conversations together that she introduced him to geology. Cézanne had a quasi-scientific interest in nature, which clearly separated him from the Impressionists, who remained fixed in their simple rejoicing in the beauty of the world.
She?
Antoine-Fortuné Marion (10 October 1846 – 22 January 1900) was a French naturalist with interests in geology, zoology, and botany.
Let’s look at the French to understand the misgendering.
Cézanne, le goût de la Provence ([Paris] : Editions du Chêne, 1995) texte par Gilles Plazy.
Un autre de ses amis d’enfance, au cours d’autres excursions et de longues conversations, l’a un peu initié à la géologie. C’est que Marion est géologue, tout en pratiquant la peinture en amateur (ils vont peindre ensemble la Sainte-Victoire). Cela est important parce que cet intérêt quasi scientifique pour la nature sépare nettement Cézanne des impressionnistes auxquels il suffit de se réjouir de la beauté du monde.
The plurals can mask any corrective to the mistaken impression that Marion is a woman’s name. But it is worth noting nothing in the French points to the feminine – its appearance in English is a case of interference.
Since there is also a British edition, let’s see if there is a possible source for the mistaken gender.
First published in Britain by Ebury Press (1995) under the title Cezanne, A Taste of Provence, the translation of the Gilles Plazy text is credited to Henrietta Handford.
Checking the American edition against the British one notes there is a little variation and the misattribution of gender is present.
Marion was another of his childhood friends who should be mentioned here. As well as being an amateur painter, she was a geologist. They often went to Mont Sainte-Victoire, and it was during the excursions and their long conversations together that she introduced him to geology. We should remember Cézanne’s quasi-scientific interest in nature, which clearly separated him from the Impressionists who remained fixed in their simple rejoicing in the beauty of the world.
Tis a pity that the assemblers of the images for the book didn’t think of including Cézanne’s portrait of Marion painted in 1866 and now in the Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Speaking of pictures…
Another Marion: Marion Michael Morrison, known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed Duke. I wonder how readers would react to his being called “she” : ) Movie buffs will recall the how-to-walk-like-John-Wayne scene in La Cage aux folles (remade in English as The Birdcage) and forgive the translator and the editors their performance of a gender-blending howler.
And so for day 2556
12.12.2013