Alma Mahler-Werfel(1879-1964)
Alma Mahler-Werfel (Vienna, 1879 -- New York, 1964) - born in a wealthy
bourgeois Viennese family, the daughter of the popular painter Emil
Jakob Schindler and his wife Anna von Bergen - was arguably one of the
greatest femmes fatales of the turn-of-the-century Europe: an era that
was not only rich in femmes fatales, but worshiped - and feared - them.
As a young girl, Alma was hailed as "the most beautiful girl in
Vienna"; and throughout her life she inspired the admiration and love
of some of the most talented men of her time. She was courted by Gustav
Klimt, Paul Kammerer, Max Burckhard, and Alexander von Zemlinsky, among
others.
In 1902, at the age of twenty-two, Alma married the famous composer (and director of the Vienna Court Opera) Gustav Mahler, with whom she then had two daughters (one of them, Maria, died at a very early age, the other one, Anna, grew up to be a well-known sculptor). Shortly after the death of her young daughter, Alma began an affair with the up-and-coming architect Walter Gropius (who became of the leading masters of 20th century architecture). After Mahler's death, in 1911, she engaged in a lengthy affair with the painter Oskar Kokoschka, who became obsessed with her (which led to a series of bizarre incidents, including the making of a life-size doll in Alma's likeness).
In 1915, Alma married her old flame Gropius. The following year she gave birth to their much-adored daughter, Manon. (Manon died suddenly, in April of 1935, leaving her mother - and a host of admirers - distraught with grief.) As early as 1917, during one of Gropius' frequent military leaves, she met the writer Franz Werfel, with whom she started living around the time of her divorce from Gropius (1920) and whom she eventually married (1929). With Werfel - who was Jewish, therefore in danger during the Nazi regime - she moved to the USA and remained there until her death, in 1964.
Upon close scrutiny it could be argued that Alma's life wasn't particularly easy, even though she lived in leisure for most of her lifetime. She seemed to have endured a lot of heartache; and, perhaps no less tragically, she had stifled her own considerable musical talent. (A few of her musical compositions - piano pieces - have been preserved.) She willingly resigned herself to serve as a muse to some of the most famous and talented men of her time. And that she did, in the grandest of styles: so much so that that the inspiration she provided could be rightly described as her greatest and proudest achievement.
In 1902, at the age of twenty-two, Alma married the famous composer (and director of the Vienna Court Opera) Gustav Mahler, with whom she then had two daughters (one of them, Maria, died at a very early age, the other one, Anna, grew up to be a well-known sculptor). Shortly after the death of her young daughter, Alma began an affair with the up-and-coming architect Walter Gropius (who became of the leading masters of 20th century architecture). After Mahler's death, in 1911, she engaged in a lengthy affair with the painter Oskar Kokoschka, who became obsessed with her (which led to a series of bizarre incidents, including the making of a life-size doll in Alma's likeness).
In 1915, Alma married her old flame Gropius. The following year she gave birth to their much-adored daughter, Manon. (Manon died suddenly, in April of 1935, leaving her mother - and a host of admirers - distraught with grief.) As early as 1917, during one of Gropius' frequent military leaves, she met the writer Franz Werfel, with whom she started living around the time of her divorce from Gropius (1920) and whom she eventually married (1929). With Werfel - who was Jewish, therefore in danger during the Nazi regime - she moved to the USA and remained there until her death, in 1964.
Upon close scrutiny it could be argued that Alma's life wasn't particularly easy, even though she lived in leisure for most of her lifetime. She seemed to have endured a lot of heartache; and, perhaps no less tragically, she had stifled her own considerable musical talent. (A few of her musical compositions - piano pieces - have been preserved.) She willingly resigned herself to serve as a muse to some of the most famous and talented men of her time. And that she did, in the grandest of styles: so much so that that the inspiration she provided could be rightly described as her greatest and proudest achievement.