Femme du Monde (c.1929). Kees van Dongen (Dutch, 1887-1968). Oil on canvas. Chrysler Museum of Art.
The identity of this spirited flapper is something of a mystery. First exhibited under the title of Femme du Monde (Woman of the World) in 1929, the sitter was for years identified as one Monna Lils. It is likely, however, that this name is a punning pseudonym that alludes to the Mona Lisa and the actual sitter—the celebrated actress Lili Damita who later married Errol Flynn.
“Life is beautiful, and this work is even more beautiful than life. The essential thing is to elongate the women and especially to make them slim. After that it just remains to enlarge their jewels. They are ravished.”
DesignerNorman Norell proudly standing amongst his muses: models dressed in his signature sequined sheath gowns along with the Marchesa Luisa Casati, portrayed in Kees van Dongen’s 1921 painting, The Quai, Venice. Photo by Milton Greene, Life Magazine, September, 1960.
Norman Norell owned the portait of the eccentric Marchesa Luisa Casati (the same Marchesa who inspired the label Marchesa by Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig) and designed his Fall 1960 collection in her honor.
