Footnotes

• Étienne Drian was the Antonio Lopez or Mario Testino of the Belle Epoque set – Paul Helleu with pizzazz. He depicted fashions for magazines including the Gazette du Bon Ton and Vogue, and portrayed the fashionable beauties of the era – among them the stylish actresses Cecile Sorel and the flamboyant but doomed Gaby Deslys (who numbered King Manuel II of Portugal amongst her lovers) with evocative flair. He had exquisite taste, converting an old mill complex in the countryside outside Paris which was so chic that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor eventually acquired it as their beloved pied a campagne. (The meridienne, Lot 138, is said to have come from the Duchess's bedroom there).
  Hamish Bowles

---

Category: Fine Art / Contemporary Art

---

Auction terms and conditions