“The two greatest mannequins of the century were Gertrude Stein and Edith Sitwell- unquestionably. You just couldn't take a bad picture of those two old girls.” - Diana Vreeland 
17 September 2010
Marilyn and the Two Greatest Mannequins
“The two greatest mannequins of the century were Gertrude Stein and Edith Sitwell- unquestionably. You just couldn't take a bad picture of those two old girls.” - Diana Vreeland 
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well i don't know about edith, but whatever modernist pearls of wisdom she's dispensing aside, ms stein was more likely than not cruising marilyn as well...:)
ReplyDeletewhere's alice b. btw?
Dear Anon: Dame Edith S was probably looking down her very long nose at MM and the image of Gertrude S slavering and drooling at MM cracked me up. Funny! Alice B was probably at home cooking her a VERY large meal, just look at them hammy forearms...
ReplyDeletehaha thar's funny.
ReplyDeleteincidentally, i found out that the late ms stein died in 1946...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein
...and at that point, the late ms monroe (1926-1962) would only have been 20 years old:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe
the numbers don't quite add up do they, bec ms monroe certainly looked older & more sophisticated than a mere 20-year-old in that pic...
thoughts?
Dear Anon: It strikes me afresh everytime how accomplished people of old were. Raphael died at 37, so he became a virtuoso painter very early in life. My dear Jane Austen had completed her six classic novels by 40. It is very possible that MM was 18 or 19 in the photo - didn't she start out pretty early in life?
ReplyDeleteAnother thought - she must have lied about her birth date.
'Another thought - she must have lied about her birth date.'
ReplyDeletetouché!
speaking of young people of old who accomplished heaps: i'm starting, now in my middle age, finally to feel the poetry of john keats (1795-1821), something which is supposed to have been read in one's romantic & idealistic youth. perverse, isn't it?
Dear Anon: Indeed it's perverse. Youth is really wasted on the young.
ReplyDeleteElsa Maxwell, not Gertrude Stein.
ReplyDelete