La Romance (The Romance)

1907–1912

Meeting and affair with Apollinaire

In 1907 Picasso introduces her to the poet Guillaume Apollinaire; their passionate affair lasts until 1912, he dedicates poems to her, and she is often identified as his muse.

1910

Exhibition: Société des Artistes Indépendants

1910–1912

Among the Cubists of the Section d'Or

She belongs to Picasso's circle and to the Cubists associated with the Section d'Or (Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Robert Delaunay, Henri Le Fauconnier, Francis Picabia), exhibiting with them at the Paris salons and at the Galeries Dalmau, at the first Cubist exhibition in Spain.

1911

Exhibition: Salon d'Automne

June 1914

Marriage to Baron Otto von Wätjen

She marries Baron Otto von Wätjen, an artist born in Germany; through the marriage she automatically loses her French citizenship.

1914–1920

Exile in Spain

Soon after the outbreak of war she leaves for Spain with her husband, to Madrid and then Malaga and Barcelona; the couple later live briefly together in Düsseldorf. In exile she writes her first poems (later under the pseudonym Louise Lalanne; the collection “Carnet des nuits”), and in Madrid, thanks to Picabia, she meets Sonia and Robert Delaunay.