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LOY, From page 7
the rainbow. …Cravan sported a black shirt with cutouts through which one
glimpsed obscenities scribbled in red on his chest. …The boxer's talents were as impressive as hes physique, explained a friend, but his morals were those of the athletes he befriended, men 'worn out by their intensive training (and) enslaved by their splendid bodies.' (Becoming Modern p.235)
It seemed that Mina could not help but be drawn to this curious fellow. However, when Cravan visited, she hid her jewelry as he had boasted of robbing a jewelry store in Lausanne. As this relationship between Mina and Arthur developed it was not always easy. Craven, a draft dodger, could be tender but also vulgar and inconsiderate. He did not have an income, so he was dependent on those around him, particularly women to support him. However, once Mina admitted that she was in love with Craven, "this 'Gargantuan boor" became a 'monster as lovely as Venus.' The sight of him meditating in her bath moved her to tears." (Becoming Modern p.241.) The pair was married in Mexico City in January 1918. They lived hand-to-mouth there until November of that year when Mina became pregnant. It was decided they would return to Europe, collect her other children, and settle in Paris. Cravan purchased a wrecked boat and began to restore it for the journey to Europe. The idea was for Mina to sail on a passenger ship to safeguard her health, and he would meet her later. When Cravan's restoration project was completed, he set sail for a test run. As Mina waved from the pier, Cravan sailed from sight and was never seen again. Mina spent days on the beach waiting for him before friends could coax her inside. Cravan's disappearance was a shock from which Mina never fully recovered.
Mina's third child, Jemima Fabienne Cravan Lloyd, was born
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was assisting his mother-in-law financially and in 1933 arranged a showing of her paintings in his gallery. One of Mina's closest friends during this time was Djuna Barnes; the two lived in the same building from 1928 to 1930, when Barnes returned to America. Mina also appeared at Natalie Barney's salon, lecturing on Gertrude Stein as well as reading her own poetry. Loy also worked on an unpublished novel that was a fictionalized account of German surrealist painter and friend, Richard Oelze.
When Fabi followed Joella to New York in 1936, it was not long before Mina joined them there. After living for a time with Joella and Julien, Mina and Fabi moved into their own apartment. By now Joella had three children and marriage problems with which to contend as well as a mother who Joella reflected was, from 1937 until the early 1940's, "at her maddest," and indeed Mina was feeling estranged from her daughters, imagining herself a burden, and withdrawing more and more.
While Fabi and Mina lived together, Fabi tried to get an education in addition to working to support her mother and herself, but there was never enough money. When Natalie Barney visited them in 1939, she was shocked by their living conditions and the fact that they could not afford a refrigerator. She had one delivered to them which pleased Fabi but furthered Mina's withdrawal. As Joella's marriage dissolved, against Mina's wishes, mother and daughter stopped speaking. Joella replaced Julien as Mina's financial aid, but Fabi would come home to find the electricity or phone cut off because Mina had forgotten to pay the bill.
In 1940 Mina and Fabi moved into a rooming house. From there, after discovering bedbugs, they went to Richard Kelly's until they were able to move into a cheap apartment near Union Square.
See LOY, page 11
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in England, April 5, 1919. Soon after, Mina and Fabi returned to Florence and the other children. Then in 1920 Mina left the children again as she searched for information on Cravan. This trip took her back to New York where she became involved with the bohemians of Greenwich Village, particularly Robert McAlmon and Djuna Barnes. When she returned to Florence in 1921, her first husband had abducted Giles from Florence. Mina never saw her son again as he died of a rare cancer in 1923.
Mina took her daughters traveling to Vienna, where she met Freud, and Germany in route to Paris. Mina and the girls lived in Paris from 1923 to 1930 where Mina supported them by running a design business and retail shop. Money for this venture was obtained from Peggy Guggenheim and Laurence Vail, but it proved to be a poor business relationship. Mina Loy enjoyed much social success during this period of her life. She was a hostess to many American as well as European friends. She became a friend with Sylvia Beach, owner of Shakespeare and Company, whom later wrote of Mina and her daughters: "We had three raving beauties in 'the Crowd,' all in one family, which was not fair. Mina Loy, the poetess, and her daughters, Joella and Faby…were so lovely that they were stared at wherever they went, and were used to it." (DLB 54, p.268)
In 1927 Joella married Julien Levy, an art dealer, and moved to New York. Mina continued operating her retail business, but was overly worried that her lampshade designs were being stolen. Levy
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