Philanthropy
In the 1920s, she was a member of many society salons in Paris, including Marie-Blanche de Polignac's. It was there that she met many artists started supporting them, including Henri Sauguet. She appeared in Man Ray's 1929 film set at the Villa Noailles, Les Mystères du Château de Dé. She also attended the opera festivals in Bayreuth and Salzburg.
In 1940, she established a philanthropic foundation to support the arts known as Pour que l’esprit vive (May the spirit live). In particular, it was meant to support struggling artists. It was headquartered on the Canebière.
During World War II, she sheltered Jewish artists in the Château Pastré, including the harpist Lily Laskine, the pianists Youra Guller and Monique Haas, the painter Rudolf Kundera, etc. She was also asked by her friend Édith Piaf to shelter her Jewish lover, Norbert Glanzberg, and she agreed to do so. Moreover, she arranged for the pianist Clara Haskil to receive medical care and then escape to Vevey, in Switzerland. She also hosted the cellist Pablo Casals, the dancer Josephine Baker, Samson François, Darius Milhaud, Georges Auric, André Masson, Paul Valéry, Lanza del Vasto, André Roussin, Victor Brauner, Luc Dietrich, Marcel Brion, Gérard Bauër, Raoul Dufy, etc. On July 29, 1942, A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare was performed on the estate. The directors were Jean Walls and Boris Kochno, the costume designer was Christian Bérard, the composer was Jacques Ibert and the conductor was Manuel Rosenthal. Ninety percent of the orchestra were Jewish. The performance was covered by Le Figaro.
In 1948, she helped establish the Aix-en-Provence Festival, an annual opera festival in Aix-en-Provence, by covering the entire costs. She hired Hans Rosbaud as well as a German orchestra, even though it was only three years after the war. She also hired the pianists Clara Haskil and Jean Doyen, the soprano Maria Stader, and the Quartetto Italiano. However, by 1949, she stopped serving on the Board of Trustees of the festival, due to disagreements with the President of the festival, Gabriel Dussurget, who wanted the festival to become more professional.
She donated a parcel of land next to her Château Pastré to Emmaüs, a Catholic organization for the homeless.
