Washington Winter Show 2017

49 Marion Pike, Paris Rooftops, 1971. Acrylic on masonite, 136 x 125 cm. to be friends.” Marion preserved this scarf for the rest of her life, and it now forms one of our exhibits. It was agreed that Marion could paint her portrait. Marion applied paint directly onto masonite or canvas and worked with spontaneity and speed. She also put her sitters at ease, for once she started a portrait, even though her hands were in continual motion, she was calm, focused, and quiet, a great listener. Most of her subjects soon found themselves pouring out their life stories. This ability to work quickly and listen attentively would have suited Chanel’s restless temperament and need for an audience. No one enjoyed performing—spinning a tale—more than Coco did. When Coco Chanel—Big Head was completed, she was delighted. Even though she was too busy to sit at length for all of the portraits Marion did, she issued the artist an open invitation to set up her easel at the House of Chanel and paint whenever she wished. Henceforth, the two women worked alongside each other. Afterword By 1970, Chanel was not at all well, but she continued to work. She died, at age 87, on January 10, 1971. Marion received the news while she was visiting the actress Claudette Colbert at her house, Bellerive , in Barbados. It was to this address that Jeffie wrote to her mother about the sadness of Coco’s passing and the hole she knew it would leave in her mother’s life. Because Marion saved that letter, we have it in the exhibition. Yes, she was very sad, but like Coco, Marion knew that the best way to cope with illness, grief, or disappointment was to keep going, which meant painting. Taking her folding travel easel to the beach, during the daytime and at sunset, Marion stayed busy, working on a series of small but dramatic, color-drenched sea and skyscapes.  ■ Amy de la Haye is Professor of Dress History and Curatorship at London College of Fashion. Previously she was Curator of 20th Century Dress at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Jeffie Pike Durham, daughter of the artist Marion Pike, is a graduate of Radcliffe College. Her daughter, Marion Wesson, is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and continues the family tradition as a working artist. Jeffie now considers herself the family archivist .