Seraphic Secret

Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Movie fanatic. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

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“I loved acting, which was never about money, the fame. It was about a search for meaning. It was painful.” —Kim Novak
“I loved acting, which was never about money, the fame. It was about a search for meaning. It was painful.”
—Kim Novak

Raphael, Lady with a Unicorn, 1505, oil on wood, 65 x 51 cm
Raphael, Lady with a Unicorn, 1505, oil on wood, 65 x 51 cm

 

Photo by Vincent Bourilhon
Photo by Vincent Bourilhon

 

Kim Novak ad for Lux Soap, 1956.
Kim Novak for Lux Soap, 1956.

 

Japanese poster for Vertigo, starring james Stewart and Kim Novak.
Japanese poster for Vertigo, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak.

 

Willem de Kooning. Rider (Untitled VII). 1985
Willem de Kooning, Rider (Untitled VII), oil on canvas, 1985

 

“I think if you meet the right person in life and you fall in love, that is a miracle. My husband saw me on the subway. That is a miracle!” ”Eva Marie Saint
“I think if you meet the right person in life and you fall in love, that is a miracle. My husband saw me on the subway. That is a miracle!”
—Eva Marie Saint

 

Elisabeth Bellinghausen by Bartholomäus Bruyn de Oude, 1538-39
Elisabeth Bellinghausen by Bartholomäus Bruyn de Oude, 1538-39

 

Photo by Ric Lafforgue, North Korean Traffic Officer. There are hardly any cars in North Korea so traffic cops perform a ritual dance that has no relation to reality.
Photo by Ric Lafforgue, North Korean Traffic Officer. There are hardly any cars in North Korea so traffic cops perform a ritual dance that has no relation to reality.

 

Eva Marie Saint ad for American Tourister Luggage, 1965.
Eva Marie Saint for American Tourister Luggage, 1965

 

French poster for North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.
French poster for North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.

 

Frank Stella, Polish Village Series, : “Odelsk 3″, acrylic paint and cloth on constructed plywood, 1971, 7.5 ft x 11ft
Frank Stella, Polish Village Series, “Odelsk 3″, acrylic paint and cloth on constructed plywood, 1971, 7.5 ft x 11ft

 

“I don't know what it is I exude. But whatever it is, it's whatever I am.” —Janet Leigh
“I don’t know what it is I exude. But whatever it is, it’s whatever I am.”
—Janet Leigh

 

Lorenzo Lotto, Portrait of Laura da Pola, 1544, oil on canvas, 90 x 75 cm
Lorenzo Lotto, Portrait of Laura da Pola, 1544, oil on canvas, 90 x 75 cm

 

Kusakabe Kimber, Geisha in the Rain, hand tinted albumen print. In addition, Kimbei here invents ingenious studio "special effects": he imitates the rain and the wind by directly striating the negative and by tensing the threads moving the material of the kimono of this Japanese woman, who is at the mercy of a reconstructed storm,1885.
Kusakabe Kimber, Geisha in the Rain, hand tinted albumen print, 1885.

 

Lux soap ad with Janet Leigh from Woman's Day, October, 1953. I have no clue as to the schmatte on her head.
Janet Leigh for Lux Soap from Woman’s Day, October, 1953. I have no clue as to the schmatte on her head and in her hand.

 

Israeli poster for Psycho, starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins.
Israeli poster for Psycho, starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins.

 

Shirley Kaneda, Amorphous Maiden, oil on canvas, 1992, 48" x 42". Collection Robert & Karen Avrech, Los Angeles.
Shirley Kaneda, Amorphous Maiden, oil on canvas, 1992, 48″ x 42″. Collection Robert & Karen Avrech, Los Angeles.

 

Live from her one year birthday party, Livia Yarden wishes all our friends and relatives a lovely and meaningful Shabbat.
Live from her one year birthday party, Livia Yarden wishes all our friends and relatives a lovely and meaningful Shabbat.

 

Ed Ruscha, END 1983 oil on canvas 36 x 40 inches
Ed Ruscha, END
1983
oil on canvas
36 x 40 inches

Last Friday Seraphic Secret published a photo allegedly from World War II titled “Leave No Man Behind”. One of our  readers, David M., conversant with WWII photography, did not recognize the picture, conducted some research and wrote to me the following:

It turns out the photograph is a staged photograph of dolls taken by Mark Hogancamp.  His own story is pretty remarkable as you can see from the accompanying story.  Apparently, you are not the first one to be fooled.  I didn’t think it was a fake, but I was surprised that I had no memory of ever having seen it anywhere before your column.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/oct/28/mark-hogancamp-marwencol-jon-ronson-miniature-town-horrors-of-war

We thank David M. for his diligence and apologize for our mistake.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I thought Kim was Columbia’s answer to Rita Hayworth’s marriage to Aly Khan. I stayed in the Hotel on Mont Saint Michel where they stayed on their honeymoon and there are photos on the wall of the breakfast room of them. Rita eventually came back but never got her mojo back.

    “Bell, Book and Candle” is a favorite film of Kims for me.

    Interesting that Kim has an art web site and sells paintings.

  3. What a wonderful quote from Eva Marie Saint. I think she lives in Santa Monica and years of stardom did not screw her up.

    Kim lives up in Oregon I believe and a fire at her home destroyed all of her film memorabilia,

    When Grace Kelley left Hollywood wasn’t Kim the result of Hitch’s search for the “perfect blonde”?

    I think they would both be interesting for an afternoon’s conversation.

  4. Your comment underneath the Janet Leigh’s Lux ad made me laugh, for a number of reasons. I was staring at it for several minutes trying to understand the layout (her disembodied head wearing an ugly sun hat – a gloved hand [that matches her hat and the visible collar of her invisible dress] holding a cotton candy swirl that’s as big as her head), before I noticed your comment. I couldn’t understand why the ad agency would use props that distract the viewer from focusing on her beautiful face … and product? If the ad had been done in the 70s, rather than the 50s, then they might’ve used this prop: http://www.aliexpress.com/item-img/Short-popular-Pink-Jumbo-Afro-Wig-Costume-Halloween-Party-dress-up-party/32385630909.html?spm=2114.10010108.100005.12.1TMGBp

    Happy Birthday, Livia Yarden 🙂

  5. Kim Novak was one of those women who (to me anyway) seem to secrete sexiness. I know she was an actress and her image was managed, etc., but every time I see her on screen, she looks seductive and alluring.

    Eva Marie Saint is another stunning woman, but on a different level than Novak.

    I love the de Kooning painting Rider and the Stella Odelsk 3 piece.

    I also love Robert’s Friday Photo posts… keep up the great work, Robert! I wish you, your readers and your lovely wife a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

    • I’ve honestly never understood the sexual appeal of Kim Novak.

      Eva Marie Saint, on the other hand, would be irresistible if I was a widower looking to remarry.

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