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Arletty (1898-1992)
Arletty (1898-1992)
Léonie Bathiat, known as Arletty, was a legend of French theatre and cinema. As muse to celebrated duo Prévert-Carné, she played the leading lady in their cult films of the 1930s and 40s. 
Her saucy, brash nature was the perfect match for the unforgettable retorts she immortalised in her films, including the famous “Est-ce que j'ai une gueule d'atmosphère?” (“Do I look like an atmosphere?”), as Raymonde in Hôtel du Nord, and “Paris is small for those who share so great a passion as ours”, as Garance in Les enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise).
Fewer people are aware that she worked as a model for fashion designer Poiret and spent time with art dealer Paul Guillaume, posing for numerous painters including Moïse Kisling, Foujita, Van Dongen and Marie Laurencin.
Off-screen too, Arletty embodied the image of the liberated, modern woman, making and accepting responsibility for her own choices in life. She summed herself up with the phrase: “I am what I am”. 
She was brave in the face of adversity, particularly when she became blind: she actively supported the French association of blind artists and will forever remain its honorary president.
07-509931
Anonymus
Italie, Florence, Museo di Storia della Fotografia Fratelli Alinari
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