Mabel Dodge Luhan

Mabel Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan (pronounced LOO-hahn; née Ganson; February 26, 1879 – August 13, 1962) was an American patron of the arts, who was particularly associated with the Taos art colony. Early life Mabel Ganson was the heiress of Charles Ganson, a wealthy banker from Buffalo, New York, and his wife, Sarah Cook. Raised to charm and groomed to marry, she grew up among Buffalo's social elite, raised in the company of her nursemaid. She attended Saint Margaret’s Episcopal School for girls until the age of sixteen, then went to school in New York City. In 1896, she toured Europe and attended the 'Chevy Chase' finishing school in Washington, D.C. Career Florence In 1904, Luhan married her second husband, Edwin Dodge. Between 1905 and 1912, Edwin and Mabel lived near Florence at her palatial Medici villa, the Villa Curonia in Arcetri, where she entertained local artists, in addition to Gertrude Stein, her brother Leo, Alice B. Toklas, and other visitors from Paris, including André Gide. A troubled liaison with her chauffeur led to two suicide attempts: the first by eating figs containing shards of glass; the second with laudanum.