The White Dove – Sultana
A Melody Of Ancient Egypt
Rotterdam
Angry Nature
Beauty By The Sea – Seaside Flirtation
Singapore
title unknown
Lola Montez
Give – Blessed Are The Merciful
Yvonne De Carlo As Mata Hari
Tunis
title unknown
Cleopatra
A Buddha-Pest
Ancient Egypt
The Infidel
Mermaid
Maid Of The West
Marie Mancini
Margie
Carmen
title unknown
Flapper Girl Painted By Pierrot
Delilah
title unknown
The Aurora
title unknown
Hair-Do
North Africa
Edgar Allan Poe Writing Lenore
Stu Mead said:
Wonderful!
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Bruce said:
“Yvonne De Carlo As Mata Hari” is a clue. I am willing to bet that Clive used the faces of famous movie actresses for several other of his paintings: “Singapore,” “Lola Montez,” “Carmen,” “title unknown (feathered hat),” “Delilah.” But the one that is driving me crazy (well, intriguing me more than the others) is “Marie Mancini.” That face is not this Marie Mancini: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Mancini. Even if I am wrong about Clive using actresses’ images, WHO is the actress that I am thinking of when I look at this painting?!?
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Bruce said:
Well, my instincts are correct! However inaccurate as to my suppositions of identity.
Two sources:
http://www.americanartarchives.com/clive.htm
http://grapefruitmoongallery.com/cgi-bin/engine/exec/search.cgi?fields=art_field1&keyword=Henry%20Clive
“Carmen” is Linda Darnell though not the actress I was thinking about whose name escapes me. “Delilah” is “showgirl Beryl Wallace” whom I’ve never heard of but her face looked familiar. “Cleopatra is the lovely Hollywood film star Dorothy Lamour” who I thought was also in “Singapore.”
So I had the right idea if not the right actresses. This leaves the burning question: Who is the REAL “Marie Mancini”? 🙂
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Bruce said:
According to this: http://grapefruitmoongallery.com/sold-items/148.shtml, it’s “starlette Maria Montez.” Again, not the actress I was thinking about. Disappointing. I will be haunted forever by this! 😉
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Suzay Lamb said:
The Marie Mancini portrait was used for the April 4, 1948 cover of the American Weekly Magazine. Dominican actress Maria Montez posed as Marie Mancini.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montez
“Delilah” was created for the June 20th, 1948 cover of the American Weekly. The actress impersonating Samson’s treacherous lover is Beryl Wallace (who died on June 17, 1948 in a plane crash)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_Wallace
“Cleopatra” was painted for the October 13, 1946 cover of the American Weekly. The Egyptian Queen (“a fat woman with a big belly and a big nose”, according to Plutarch) is Hollywood star Dorothy Lamour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Lamour
In early 1920’s Henry Clive painted the Ziegfeld Girls and a series of Hollywood stars (Gloria Swanson, Pola Negri, Betty Compson, Claudette Colbert…) for promo campaigns.
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Bruce said:
Thanks. Someday, I may find the REAL “Maria Mancini” actress (the one in my mind, that is) and if I do, I will come back here and post a photo link to prove that I am not crazy!
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Suzay Lamb said:
Two of my favorite actresses of that period are Gene Tierney and Hedy Lamarr but, alas, they don’t match.
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Bruce said:
I am wrapping up my investigation and putting this out of my head (if I can).
Tonight’s TCM movie is “White Cargo” (1942), starring Hedy Lamarr. When I saw the movie poster that they have on the site (http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/498/White-Cargo/#tcmarcp-198731), I immediately thought of this “Marie Mancini” here.
But it is not Hedy Lamarr in this painting! A comparison of various Bing images to this image is conclusive on that score, as is a comparison of the painting to images of Maria Montez. It is Maria Montez.
Now I am going to forget this. A fifth of gin may help. I will not let this woman haunt me for the rest of my life… will I? WILL I?!?
(Don’t worry, I’m just kidding. I love lots of women in this blog! :))
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Suzay Lamb said:
…and many other women will follow (always keep space in your heart 🙂 …).
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Bruce said:
Yeah, at the rate that you post new entries in this blog, I’ve GOT to keep clearing them out! 😉
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Suzay Lamb said:
There will be some slowdown towards the end of the year (I’ll be mom again next january)…
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Bruce said:
Congratulations!
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Bruce said:
Can we look forward to an “American Baby” blog from you next? How about calling it “Suzay’s Babays”? [Sorry. It’s the gin talking. I’ll be quiet now.]
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