Dedications: My four late friends Rory, Stan, Bryan, Jeff - shine on you crazy diamonds, they would have blogged too. Then theres Garry from Brisbane, Franco in Milan, Mike now in S.F. / my '60s-'80s gang: Ned & Joseph in Ireland; in England: Frank, Des, Guy, Clive, Joe & Joe, Ian, Ivan, Nick, David, Les, Stewart, the 3 Michaels / Catriona, Sally, Monica, Jean, Ella, Anne, Candie / and now: Daryl in N.Y., Jerry, John, Colin, Martin and Donal.

Monday, 21 November 2011

Monica as Celia ?


A nice feature on Celia Birtwell in the weekend papers - she is of course the textile designer known for her distinctive bold, romantic and feminine designs, which draw influences from Picasso, Matisse and from the classical world. Celia and her late husband Ossie Clark began in the 1960s when they dressed all the stylish stars of the day, Mick Jagger and the rest. After Ossie's death Celia continued with her shop in London and has now come into her own again, with a splendid new coffee-table book on her designs, and collections of fabrics and textiles in her distinctive style for stores like John Lewis. She is also of course well known as her friend David Hockney's muse, David has painted and drawn her so many times over the years, as shown in all those books on him. She also featured in Jack Hazan's fascinating 1974 film A BIGGER SPLASH following Hockney and his friends over the course of several years.

When asked who should play her in a film she said Monica Vitti - who looks rather like her and whom she liked in those 60s films with the likes of Alain Delon. Here's Celia and David in front of that large popular painting "Mr and Mrs Clarke with Percy" - Celia with Ossie and their cat Percy, one of the Tate's most popular works.

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