There were a couple of things that
happened while I was finishing Beyond Valentino after Michael Morris'
passing. I so wished he were there to know two discoveries which he so
wanted to know. He began the research into both quests which were
resolved after he was gone.
One being the confirmation that
Natacha and Svetoslav Roerich were engaged. When I contacted the
Roerich Foundation to follow up on the images Michael hoped to use,
they put me in touch with a gentleman in Moscow who is writing a book
on Svetoslav. Dr. Rosov was very formal and said he could not share a
lot because he did not want to compromise his research. But he did
tell me Natacha and Svetie were engaged for three years. He also told
me he once interviewed Michael.
I knew nothing about that and asked
him if he could send me the article. He said he published it in
Russian and then sent me the file in Russian. We had it officially
translated by a certified translator and included it in Beyond
Valentino. I think it is one of the most interesting inclusions in the
book.
The other revelation that surfaced after
Michael's passing was the reason Svetoslav broke up with Natacha.
Michael surmised father Nicholas Roerich summoned his son to India.
But again through the Roerich connection, I was put in touch with a
man in Spain who wrote an article on Natacha and “Svetie”.
He sent me excerpts from the diary of
mother Helena Roerich which just recently became public to Roerich
members. In those clips, she said she demanded her son Svetie leave
Natacha Rambova because she believed she was the “reincarnation of
Bathsheba” and bad for his karma. When I read that I was so sorry
Michael could not be there because he would have flipped out to know
that.
Here is the first page of Dr. Rosov's interview conducted in April of 1999.
"Michael
Morris:
I
Was Fascinated by My Rambova
Dr.
Vladimir Rosov Interviews Father Morris, The Author of “Madam
Valentino, The Many Lives of Natacha Rambova”
Dr.
Rosov asks, “What prompted a Catholic priest to write a book about
the dancer Natacha Rambova?”
Michael
Morris:
It's
a long interesting story, but I'll try to tell it briefly. I received
a doctorate in art history from the University of California at
Berkeley. Prior to my work on my doctoral dissertation, I completed
my master's thesis, with the focus and theme of this thesis being
Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations for the play “Salomè”.
In
the course of my studies, I discovered that a film was produced based
on this play in which Beardsley's drawings were utilized in the
design of the costumes and sets. These designs were the creation of a
woman who was the wife of Rudolph Valentino. I was most interested in
this production, because Salomè was the instrument that led to the
death of John the Baptist. I had also been interested in the cinema
for a long time, ever since my under-graduate studies at the
University of Southern California in Los Angeles. My particular
interest in cinema was based upon two elements; religion and art.
Therefore, soon after I discovered the Beardsley connection in this
production, I was off to see the silent film, “Salomè” in
a presentation in San Francisco.
As
I watched the film, I was amazed by how the scenery and costumes
still held such fascination for me, despite the fact that the
production was out-of-date being made in the 1920's with Alla
Nazimova. I then realized I needed to learn much more about this
woman, Natacha Rambova who was the artist creating such wonderful
sets and costumes.
Initially,
I read only negative commentary about her. Soon my interest in
Rambova turned into a sort of hobby and then an obsession. By the
time I was working on my doctoral thesis which was devoted to
Victorian paintings of monastic motifs, I kept my focus on Rambova
and it helped me to keep my peace of mind. In New York City, I was
able to find a copy of Natacha Rambova's will which identified
several of her heirs. With the list as reference, I began to knock on
doors, to call and write many letters. Many people found the time to
share information about Rambova with me.
The
more I learned about this woman, the more she sparked my imagination
and the more I was drawn to her. At some point in my research, I
decided that I should turn my interest in her into writing a book
about her. This is how the book was born. It was odd as people
treated me as if I was a writer, although this was my first book. I
always believed my first book would be some thesis on monks in
Victorian art, but few people seemed interested in such a
publication. There was interest in a book about Natacha Rambova!”
