The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1921-01-22
Nine. Tartoue Hopes American
Girls Will Profit by Her I'm
fortunate Experience.
WIFE OF PORTRAIT PAINTER
Says European Men Are Not Brought
Up With the Ideals of Marriage
and Womanhood That Amer
+, lean Fen Are.

e1gnerS will only listen to me and
take warning from my unfortunate ex-
perience with distinguished for
eigner, to whom I gave my love and
devotion, will feel repaid in a meas
ure for the ordeal through which I
have passed and the humiliation I
must now endure.
'Most men from the continental
European countries are not brought
up with ideals Of marriage and wom-
anhOod which American girls are
taught to believe American men have.
They make bad husbands for an
American girl, and my advice to girls
is to pick out an American for a hus-
band"
That rs what Nine. Pierre Tartoue,
wife of the noted portrait painter,
said in discussing her marriage and
her suit for separation just started.
Mr.. Tartoue is said to be in the
Adirondacks. His studio is said to
have been sublet to Rene Van Len
nap, friend.
Since Nine. Tartoue departed from
her home over a month ago in the
middle of the night, following a Sc
ries Of alleged sensational incidents
in and near the studio, she has been
living in seclusion with her mother,
Mrs. r. Bengue Barnett. ~
Tells Of Persecution.
Light on the nature Of her dis
agreement, with her husband was shed
by Nine. Tartoue during her inter-
view. She said: 49,
"The persecution to which I was
subjected by two elderly women will
be made public during the trial.
II lent myself to Pierre for pub
licity purposes--much against my own
inclination. He told me it would help
him.. ..-,-c
Il lent him z. eess.szsssz es4well as most
American girls who marry foreign
ers find they are obliged to do for
the sake Of preserving their homes
and saving their husbands from fnan-
cial difficulties My family and
friends have reason to know intimate
details concerning these financial
transactions.
II sacrificed myself on the altar
of Pierre's art and soon discovered
he did not appreciate 1t. This is
my attitude toward my husband. l
have no animosity in my heart, only
pity.
"After was Pierre's wife he con-
stantly told me was no longer an
American woman. He said 1 was I'M
der the French law, because had
married French citizen. He told
me would have to bear half the
expense of our establishment and
that French women had no rights.
Helped in flis Work.
pierre told me he was madly in
love with me. 1 was madly in love
with him.. He told me and told my
friends II was the most beautiful
American girl. He told me I was an
inspiration to him in his art. Be
lieving implicitly in him and in his
genius, I helped him every way I
could. even posed for him for por
traits of myself. and I posed for the
hands and gowns of some Of his best
portraits. Among those were the
portraits he painted last year Of Mrs.
Frederick Brooks of New York, Mrs.
Harold Brooks and Miss Ruth Shoel-
hopf of Buffalo.
"After he had painted a portrait
of me with my wedding veil over my
head, some critics told him it was
one Of the best pieces of work he
had ever done. When he painted the
God Of Happiness, which now hangs
in the Alfred I. du Pont home on
Long Island, I helped him with my
suggestions. s.szc
II found, however, that Pierre did
not appreciate me. With my own
hands / used to cook him little stu
dio dinners so that at the end of
the day, when he was tired out from
painting, he would not have to go
out for dinner. Those were halcyon
days when Pierre and were by our
selves night after night in our stu
dio. I could hardly believe the thing
was real, it was so ideal.
Eve we're married October Il, 1919,
and I will never forget the promises
he made that day., for he did not
keep a single one Of them"