Tamara de Lempicka (1898 - 1980)
Beautiful Rafaela (1927) - Tamara de Lempicka
Biography
Tamara de Lempicka (May 16, 1898 - March 18, 1980), noted Art Deco painter, was born Maria Gorska in a wealthy family in Warsaw, Poland (then in the Russian Empire). --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_de_Lempicka [Jun 2005]
"Suddenly," Tamara would say, "I became aware of a woman walking some distance in front of me. As she walks, everyone coming in the opposite direction stops and looks at her. They turn their heads as they passes by. I am curious. What is so extraordinary that they are doing this? I walk very quickly until I pass her, then I turn around and come back down the path in the opposite direction. Then I see why everyone stops. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen - huge black eyes, beautiful sensuous mouth, beautiful body. I stop her and say to her, "Madmoiselle I'm a painter and I would like you to come pose for me. Would you do this? She says, "Yes, why not?" And I say , "Yes, come. My car is here."
--Quotes excerpted from Passion By Design ~ The Art And Times Of Tamara de Lempicka, by Baroness Kizette de Lempicka - Foxhall via http://www.paloma.ca/rafaela.html [Jan 2005]