by Edward White
“one must only be accurate … fiction”: CVV to Gertrude Stein, May 17, 1913, Edward Burns, ed., The Letters of Gertrude Stein and Carl Van Vechten, 1913–1946 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986), 54.
“Au revoir et merci”: Dodge Luhan, Movers and Shakers, 217.
Van Vechten took to the task … conversation: Muriel Draper, Music at Midnight (New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1929), 121–24.
He praised its … “shriek”: “New York’s ‘Darktown’ Would Do Well on Broadway,” New York Press, December 14, 1913, CVV scrapbook 9, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“One thing is certain … this one”: Ibid.
“is not an imitation … to us”: “Real Thrills in ‘Granny Maumee,’” New York Press, March 31, 1914, CVV scrapbook 9, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“essentially Negro character”: CVV, “The Negro Theatre,” In the Garret, 319.
he was so intoxicated … meaning: CVV to Mabel Dodge, c. October 1913, Mabel Dodge Luhan Papers, YCAL; Kellner, ed., Letters of Carl Van Vechten, 9.
Evans had befriended … principles: Evans’s unusual personality can be discovered in the strange letters he sent to Van Vechten between 1912 and 1922 in the Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“there are in America … only”: Karen Leick, Gertrude Stein and the Making of an American Celebrity (New York: Routledge, 2009), 42.
Frederick James Gregg … Painters: Bradley, Making American Culture, 133.
“Miss Stein drops … Prelude”: CVV, “How to Read Gertrude Stein,” Gertrude Stein Remembered, ed. Linda Simon (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994), 41–48.
“I have often questioned … satisfaction”: Ibid., 42.
“Her vagueness is … qualities”: Ibid., 47.
“turned language into … art”: Ibid., 42.
“I am very pleased … me”: Gertrude Stein to CVV, October 25, 1914, Burns, Letters of Gertrude Stein and Carl Van Vechten, 31.
“favorite genius”: Phillip Herring, Djuna: The Life and Works of Djuna Barnes (New York: Viking, 1995), 93.
Among a crowded itinerary … proximity: CVV notebook, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL. CVV kept a journal of his 1914 trip to Europe, the first such document since his college days.
“intellectual Jewess … slippers”: CVV notebook, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL; Bruce Kellner, “Baby Woojums in Iowa,” Books at Iowa 26 (1977): 3–18.
It was obvious … famously: CVV notebook, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
Upon his arrival … upset: CVV notebook, August 1, 1914, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
As an old man … politics: The Reminiscences of Carl Van Vechten (May 14, 1960), 263, CCOHC.
When it came to elections … standing: Ibid., 264.
“stupid republican [sic] presidents”: CVV daybooks, November 7, 1928, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL; Bruce Kellner, ed., The Splendid Drunken Twenties: Selections from the Daybooks, 1922–1930 (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 225.
On the day … admired: CVV notebooks, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“I’ve done it all … to be”: CVV, “July–August 1914,” Sacred and Profane Memories, 119–20.
“a mask of quiescent boredom”: Dodge Luhan, Movers and Shakers, 290.
“Just think … again”: CVV, “July–August 1914,” Sacred and Profane Memories, 118.
6. IN DEFENSE OF BAD TASTE
“exclude stupidity, banality … beasts”: CVV, “The Editor’s Workbench,” Trend 8, no. 1 (October 1914): 101.
“destroy dilettantism and … marriage”: CVV, “War Is Not Hell,” Trend 8, no. 2 (November 1914): 147.
“That is what the war … life”: Ibid., 150.
“gifted with the most magnetic … today”: CVV, “Away Go the Critics, and On Come the Plays,” Trend 8, no. 2 (November 1914): 239.
Jolson sought Van Vechten … grabbed him: CVV to FM, November 7, 1914, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“While the alimony … dog”: Ralph Van Vechten to CVV, April 16, 1912, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“Don’t fear anything … man”: Charles Duane Van Vechten to CVV, March 26, 1915, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“It was fearfully exciting … doctor”: Louise Bryant to CVV, c. 1915, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“The only place for a writer is prison”: Mina Loy to CVV, March 12, 1915, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
Though Stein had numerous … awakening: Loy’s biographer Carolyn Burke maps out the crucial role that CVV played in helping Loy navigate her way between her feminist instincts and the intellectualized misogyny of Marinetti’s futurism that so inspired her. Carolyn Burke, Becoming Modern: The Life of Mina Loy (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997).
“for his unrestrained guests … I didn’t”: CVV, “How I Remember Joseph Hergesheimer,” Fragments from an Unwritten Autobiography, vol. 1 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1955), 8.
“Wonderful in their lithe … perfection”: CVV, “On Visiting Fashionable Places out of Season,” Excavations: A Book of Advocacies (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926), 13.
a “primitive jingle … sex”: Ibid., 15.
“wild leaps, whirls … Igor”: Ibid.
“strewn with dried palm … cries”: CVV, “The Holy Jumpers,” In the Garret, 141–42.
“A young negress … still”: Ibid., 143–45.
“ecstasy of a Negro’s sanctity”: Ibid., 145.
“Americans are easily thrilled … Ballet”: Ibid., 134.
“Americans have little aptitude … discussion”: CVV, “In Defence of Bad Taste,” Merry-Go-Round, 18.
“it is preferable to be … cage”: Ibid., 17.
“is really distinctively American”: “Ragtime’s Rage a Regular Riot,” April 1912, New York Times, CVV scrapbook 6, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“has had its day”: CVV, “Music After the Great War,” Music After the Great War, 7.
“beyond doubt that music … 1914”: Ibid., 6.
“considerable enjoyment but less sound sense”: “Music After the War,” Springfield Republican, March 26, 1916, CVV scrapbook 10, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
Modern music in America … rebellion: For a detailed examination of the significance of CVV’s work in developing an American critical tradition of modernism in music, see Carol J. Oja, Making Music Modern: New York in the 1920s (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 297–310.
“His revolt … Greenwich Village”: H. L. Mencken, “The Tone Art—Snowbirds in Hell, Presbyterians in Paris, Blondes Along the Niger, Musical Critics in the United States!,” Smart Set (July 1916), CVV scrapbook 10, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“has been in Paris … souls”: Unidentified author and article, New York Sun, January 16, 1916, CVV scrapbook 10, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“genial middle ground … slang”: Van Wyck Brooks, America’s Coming of Age (New York: B. W. Huebsch, 1915), 7.
“the fullest expression … cubism”: Christine Stansell, American Moderns: Bohemian New York and the Creation of a New Century (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2000), 6.
“the enemy”: CVV, “The Bridge Burners,” Music and Bad Manners (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1916), 169.
“even the extreme modern music … genius”: Ibid.
“Music has changed … hear”: Ibid., 193.
“vibrates with the unrest … war”: CVV, “Leo Ornstein,” Music and Bad Manners, 243.
“not to make the world … pessimist”: Donald Evans to CVV, July 5, 1917, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“narrowly about your case … register”: John Pitts Sanborn to CVV, June 16, 1917, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“It is very exciting … converts”: CVV to Gertrude Stein, April 5, 1917, Burns, Letters of Gertrude Stein and Carl Van Vechten, 58–59.
Indeed, according to Van Vechten … gutter: CVV to Gertrude Stein, April 5, 1917, Burns, ed., Letters of Gertrude Stein and Carl Van Vechten, 59.
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“Lewis F. Muir … 2001”: CVV, “The Great American Composer,” Interpreters and Interpretations, 270.
“complicated vigor of American life”: Ibid., 279.
“Americans are inclined … same”: Ibid., 281.
“It is no more use … of us”: Ibid., 284.
“a vast body … baseball”: H. L. Mencken, “The National Letters,” Smart Set (February 1918), CVV scrapbook 11, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“a man may be an American … America”: Ibid.
“He likes what is new … appreciation”: “Interpreters and Interpretations,” Musical America (July 13, 1918), CVV scrapbook 11, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“It would be much better … Ornstein”: Theodora Bean, “Readable Musical Criticism; A Talk with One Who Writes It—Carl Van Vechten,” New York Morning Telegraph, February 24, 1918, CVV scrapbook 11, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
Upon the publication … men: Charles Duane Van Vechten to CVV, March 19, 1916, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“for musical people … people”: Charles Duane Van Vechten to CVV, September 3, 1916, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“Really it looks to us … enough”: Charles Duane Van Vechten to CVV, August 24, 1918, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
Marshall’s also attracted … Interior: William B. Scott and Peter M. Rutkoff, New York Modern: The Arts and the City (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), 86.
“Come with me … play”: CVV, “Farfariello,” In the Garret, 302–303.
“working men in … theatre”: Ibid.
“No hysteria or … play”: CVV, “Mimi Aguglia as Salome,” In the Garret, 292.
“New York … unobserved”: CVV, “La Tigresse,” Sacred and Profane Memories, 175.
7. WHAT ONE IS FORCED BY NATURE TO DO
“It was an age … fun?”: F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Echoes of the Jazz Age,” My Lost City: Personal Essays, 1920–1940, ed. James L. W. West III (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 131.
“A young man … live”: Malcolm Cowley, Exile’s Return: A Literary Odyssey of the 1920s (London: Penguin Books, 1994), 79.
Many decades later … apartment: Donald Angus to Bruce Kellner, undated, Bruce Kellner Papers, YCAL.
As they talked and drank … scrutinizing: Ibid.
“Baby Van Vechten”: Kellner, “Carlo’s Wife,” Kiss Me Again, 181.
In an echo … 1920: Ibid. Kellner explains that precise dates for the adoption are impossible to ascertain because all the relevant documentation appears to have been deliberately destroyed.
“for the good of your soul”: Mabel Dodge Luhan to CVV, January 27, 1920, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“has very strong … life”: Ibid.
Every time he received … cocaine: CVV to Mabel Dodge, June 21, 1920, Mabel Dodge Luhan Papers, YCAL.
“Your enhancing appreciation … daggers”: Mabel Dodge to CVV, c. 1920, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“held the firm belief … novelty”: CVV, Red, ix.
“not only brings … readers”: Ibid., xiii.
“orphic wall of my indecision”: CVV, Peter Whiffle, 12.
“a free fantasia … Rhapsody”: Ibid., 15.
“I have done too much … lived it”: Ibid., 251.
“It is necessary … to do”: Ibid., 250.
Van Vechten was … Exquisites: Alfred Kazin, On Native Grounds: An Interpretation of Modern American Literature (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1942), 227.
The notional figurehead … 1919: Kazin also included Thomas Beer, Elinor Wylie, and CVV’s close friend and fellow Knopf author Joseph Hergesheimer in this group.
“Melville’s greatest book … world”: CVV, “The Later Work of Herman Melville,” Excavations, 79.
“cosmopolitan, a sly humorist … Washington”: Ibid., 77.
“Why don’t you decide … Pepys”: Mabel Dodge to CVV, c. 1922, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“The Twenties were famous … behavior”: CVV, “How I Remember Joseph Hergesheimer,” Fragments from an Unwritten Autobiography, vol. 1, 7.
“the splendid drunken twenties”: Ibid.
During a typical … parties: CVV daybooks, April–May 1922, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“makes a provincial ass of himself”: CVV daybooks, August 4, 1922, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL; Kellner, Splendid Drunken Twenties, 10.
“stood on her head … generally”: CVV daybooks, September 25, 1922, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL; Kellner, Splendid Drunken Twenties, 11.
an “egotist” of “considerable charm”: The Reminiscences of Carl Van Vechten (May 2, 1960), 218, CCOHC.
“guide to fast life … sense”: CVV, The Blind Bow-Boy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923), 59.
“the manly American”: Ibid., 95.
“Ferris wheels … education”: Ibid., 75–76.
“A thing of beauty is a boy forever”: CVV, The Blind Bow-Boy, 117.
“impudent sissies that clutter Times Square”: Chauncey, Gay New York, 308–309.
“that is what any … happiness”: Herbert Armstrong Jaggard, Jr., to CVV, December 3, 1925, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“He knew everyone … Day”: George George to Bruce Kellner, May 29, 1980, Bruce Kellner Papers, YCAL.
“It is impertinent … capital”: Sinclair Lewis to CVV, September 27, 1923, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
The reader summarized … “pictures”: Winnifred Reeve to CVV, April 29, 1925, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“The new book … know”: Charles Duane Van Vechten to CVV, August 10, 1923, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
Just before Christmas … with him: Charles Duane Van Vechten to CVV, December 17, 1923, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“very clever” novel … “yourself”: Charles Lewis Fitch to CVV, August 13, 1923, CVV Papers, NYPL.
“Very suddenly, out of … money”: The Reminiscences of Carl Van Vechten (May 2, 1960), 202, CCOHC.
The occasion was recorded … paid: CVV daybooks, December 13, 1923, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“The kind of writing … better”: CVV to Ralph Van Vechten, February 7, 1919, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL; Kellner, Letters of Carl Van Vechten, 27–28.
“alert intelligence … sets in”: CVV, Tattooed Countess, 1.
To his friend … “sophistication”: CVV to Hugh Walpole, October 18, 1924, Hugh Walpole Collection, Berg; Kellner, Letters of Carl Van Vechten, 72.
“the Countess was certainly full of pricks”: CVV to Arthur Davison Ficke, August 30, 1924, Arthur Davison Ficke Papers, YCAL; CVV, quoted by Bruce Kellner in introduction to Tattooed Countess, xix–xx.
“a sort of invisible force … possible”: Shirer, Start: 1904–1930, 186.
During his visit … at once: CVV to FM, October 24, 1924, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“Carl Van Vechten … read”: CVV, “Some Literary Ladies I Have Known,” Fragments from an Unwritten Autobiography, vol. 2, 44.
“Beyond a doubt … more”: CVV to Ronald Firbank, October 30, 1923, Carl Van Vechten Papers, Berg; Kellner, Letters of Carl Van Vechten, 58.
“title is delicious”: Ronald Firbank to CVV, November 17, 1923, Ronald Firbank Papers, Berg.
“an autocratic way … wanted”: Mark Lutz to Bruce Kellner, June 11, 1968, Bruce Kellner Papers, YCAL.
“My books are … champion them”: Ronald Firbank to CVV, December 16, 1924, Ronald Firbank Papers, Berg.
“I seemed always to be … critics”: CVV, Red, xi.
One evening the following … Blue: CVV daybook, January 17, 1924, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“He [Gershwin] has … Nègres!”: CVV to Hugh Walpole, October 18, 1924, Hugh Walpole Papers, Berg; Kellner, Letters of Carl Van Vechten, 73.
Even Paul Rosenfeld … flaw: Paul Rosenfeld, By Way of Art: Criticisms of Music, Literature, Painting, Sculpture, and the Dance (New York: Coward-McCann, 1928) provides a good overview of Rosenfeld’s ideas about jazz,
modern art, and America. Carol J. Oja, Making Music Matter, has much of interest to say about the differences between CVV’s and Rosenfeld’s views on jazz and modern music in the United States.
“Jazz may not be … hope”: CVV, Red, xv.
8. AN ENTIRELY NEW KIND OF NEGRO
“It was Paul … agreeable”: CVV, Firecrackers, 1.
“You’re too evolved … manifestations”: Mabel Dodge to CVV, September 24, 1924, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“who sleeps with who isn’t funny anymore”: Mabel Dodge to CVV, October 17, 1924, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
“a great negro novel”: CVV daybooks, June 19, 1924, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL; Kellner, Splendid Drunken Twenties, 52.
“I had no idea … mine”: Walter White to CVV, August 7, 1924, Carl Van Vechten Papers, YCAL.
The two men … immediately: CVV daybooks, August 26, 1924, Carl Van Vechten Papers, NYPL.
“most Negroes have a talent for acting”: CVV, “The Negro Theatre,” In the Garret, 320.
“How the darkies … lives”: Ibid., 316.
He wrote an excited letter … about him: CVV to Mabel Dodge Luhan, c. October 1924, Mabel Dodge Luhan Papers, YCAL.
“He speaks French … circles”: CVV to Edna Kenton, c. August 1924, Edna Kenton Papers, YCAL; Kellner, Letters of Carl Van Vechten, 69.
“was a hustler”: The Reminiscences of Carl Van Vechten (March 3, 1960), 20, CCOHC.
“I was never completely sold on Walter”: The Reminiscences of Carl Van Vechten (May 14, 1960), 266, CCOHC.
“I was no particular … to me”: Ibid., 272.
“he served his purpose”: Ibid.
“was a miracle straight out of the skies”: James Weldon Johnson, Black Manhattan (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930), 3.
In November, as … “pianists”: CVV to Gertrude Stein, November 15, 1924; Burns, Letters of Gertrude Stein and Carl Van Vechten, 208.
“violently interested in … addiction”: The Reminiscences of Carl Van Vechten (May 2, 1960), 193, CCOHC.
“the great black walled city”: CVV, quoted by Kathleen Pfeiffer in introduction to Nigger Heaven (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), xxiv.
“Harlem is laughing … home”: “Harlem Laughs as Night Club Is Smashed Up,” Afro American, January 25, 1930.