#graceart

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In love with this fan art by opera_kyoko3737.

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Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco

Portrait by Thornton Utz

SOURCE: Maguy Maccario Doyle on Twitter

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Mark Olmstead made this happen on his blog back in 2012 and I think I’m okay with it. 

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Grace Kelly 

Sketch by Gianfranco Grimaldi via Facebook. Shared with permission from the artist. 

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Grace Kelly

Digital art by Jack Peaslee (@sir_poems_and_pixels) via Instagram. Shared with permission from the artist.

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HSH Princess Grace of Monaco Circa 1979(?) 36" x 24" oil on board Illustration by Thornton Utz (1914-1999)  Sold on 16 January 2016 for *gasp!* $150

SOURCE: Sarasota Estate Auction via Invaluable

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Ricardo Macarrón: Favorite Spanish painter of European royalty painted a portrait of Princess Grace a year before her tragic death

Ricardo Macarrón (1926 - 2004) was an official portraitist for several European noble houses, most notably the Spanish and British royal families. In this interview, not long after her death in September 1982, he recalls the time he spent with Princess Grace of Monaco.  

“I met Princess Grace in Paris seven years ago. Then, about a year ago, she asked me to do a portrait [of her.] This gave me the opportunity to get to know her better and to establish a certain friendship with her.”

How long did it take you to do the portrait?

“It took me about fifteen days. She posed ten times in her Paris home on the Avenue Foch. I went every morning with my wife, and the princess posed in an ideal place for a painter, a kind of winter garden at the back of the house.”

What did you talk about with Princess Grace during the sessions?

“All kinds of things. She was a very simple and nice woman. She had a marvelous naturalness and was very affectionate. We talked a lot about music and dance, because they were topics that interested her. One night we even went to a concert together. She also told my wife and me about the problems she had with her children. Because I have two young daughters, we had many common points of view.”

What specific problems did she have with her children?

“The normal ones. Their studies and demands for more freedom. Her desire to remain close to them. She was very maternal, and her children were her biggest concern, especially Caroline. Understandably Grace did not give me details, but providing the best education to her children and ensuring their happiness were what worried her most.”

As an artist, how would you define the beauty of the princess?

“She had belleza extraordinaria; she was lovely. In addition, her way of walking, moving, body language, were expressive of her person, her great class. What impressed me most was her skin: it had an extraordinary quality, a smoothness and color rarely seen.”

Did you see the princess again after making the portrait?

“Yes. A few days after the portrait sessions my wife and I attended a wedding in the north of Scotland. By coincidence Grace and her husband were guests, as well. She was very surprised to see me and we talked for a long time… Her death has shocked me tremendously.”

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Painting a princess

When news spread of the death of Princess Grace of Monaco in September 1982, it brought back memories of one Siesta Key [Florida, USA] family with a special tie to the princess. Artist Thornton Utz was commissioned to paint seven separate portraits of the late princess. Utz met the princess during her time as an actress when she was Grace Kelly and modeled for an ad campaign. She was aware of his portraits of First Lady Rosalyn Carter and Amy Carter.

Utz took a trip to Monaco in 1979 for the portrait sittings and decided to bring his wife, Maud, and children Dawn, Scotty and Phil tagged along for the trip. After the two-hour sitting concluded, the princess's secretary received a message from the security guards that the children had been so well behaved, and wouldn't she like to meet them? The children were sent up and spent a half hour talking with her. She asked them to sign her guest book. After they did, Dawn asked her for an autograph.

"I'd better do that," Princess Grace said, "Tit for tat."