Nice, May 1921.
Lartigue’s photograph depicts French tennis champion Suzanne Lenglen in training, in spring 1921.
Tragically, Lenglen, nicknamed “La Divine” (the divine one), won 31 championship titles between 1914 and 1926, when she turned professional. She died tragically in 1938 at the age of 39, shortly after being diagnosed with leukemia.
Lartigue recalled, “4, rue Jean-Paul-Laurens … Suzanne Lenglen”s funeral…! One day, Jean-Paul Laurens, who was looking through my drawings, was surprised to find an unfinished sketch, and the moment was bittersweet, because the day before making the drawing I had played tennis with Suzanne Lenglen. Was I not right to enjoy her company, so quickly extinguished?”
Journal, July 6, 1938, Paris.’, ‘Nice, May 1921. Photograph of the tennis champion Suzanne Lenglen.