The Duchess
The Commission:
"Katharine, What would you say if I did your portrait in stained glass?"
She sat up straight with a twinkle in her eye...
"And I'd like to call it The Duchess"
And off we went!
"Katharine, What would you say if I did your portrait in stained glass?"
She sat up straight with a twinkle in her eye...
"And I'd like to call it The Duchess"
And off we went!
Katharin Cebrian of San Francisco has had many portraits done of her. There is one on the walls in Club Fugazi at Beach Blanket Babylon in San Francisco. The most famous is by Robert Mapplethorpe. It's the very first in his book of famous people, the one with the black turban.
The Duchess, here, was her final portrait. She was 98 when she posed for it! And I'll have you know she wore high heels when she came to visit for lunch and a studio tour just before we began.
At 98, a person can simply decide to move on... This project was our bribe to keep her with us...
The Duchess, here, was her final portrait. She was 98 when she posed for it! And I'll have you know she wore high heels when she came to visit for lunch and a studio tour just before we began.
At 98, a person can simply decide to move on... This project was our bribe to keep her with us...
The crystal beads that you see the Duchess fingering as she listens to a private concert actually belonged to Katharine. She gave them to me and I embedded them into the stained glass...