I once had the pleasure of taking tea with La Grande Madame Shoumatoff at her home in Long Island. My friend, Bruce, who did her framing took me there in the late 70's and we had tea, which was served by her maid, Hortense. Between the two women there was a battle of wills as Hortense would have like to go back to Belgium, but she was extremely loyal to her employer.

After a while we visited her studio, where she had three half-finished portraits in the process of comlpetion. One was of a very pretty blonde teenager and the brushwork was superb. I expressed my appreciation for her work, to which she replied, "I do what I can. She is very pretty, but no sex-appeal!" She had quite a sense of humour and the impression of her last with me to this day.

I would be interested if anyone knew her. She had many stories as she was a great friend of Tsaar Nicholas and Alexandra before leaving Russia in 1917.

I actually met her as well. I use to Trick-or-Treat at her house on Halloween in the early 70's and Hortense would invite me in so that Madame Shoumatoff could see my costumes! I bet that wasn't the kind of response you were looking for but it is true!

Hi PJ; Bruce here. I remember the story well, but there's more to it. The girl was a bit of a hippy, and her mother's insistance a society painter do her portrait. She was not very cooperative, but Mme. Shoumatoff "worked around it". In fact, it started in a tiff, the girl demanding she be painted in her favorite golf shirt, a man's Lacoste. That was a first! Nothing would change her mind, so Madame got to work. She did an exquisite job on the alligator, and we had a laugh over that! She was sometimes on my case for being too "commercial" in my framing tastes, which was true. So I couldn't resist turning it around: "And what about you, Madame?" She roared with laughter.