portrait

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    Vivian Ssier Painter

    ByVivian

            If only I had a last name that sounded fabulous spelled backwards. Arnold Issacs had such luck. In 1954 he was commissioned to create 10 dresses for a General Motors magazine ad. He charged $1,000 per dress, a vast sum in the fifties, and insisted that his name be emboldened in each ad. As the…

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    The Vari’s Garden Party

    ByVivian

    The annual Vari’s garden party is always held in late August in honor of George’s birthday. I painted their portrait a few years ago in my studio in Toronto. When I paint a portrait, I usually ask the subject to bring an item that has significance for them. In this case they brought each other. This portrait, is a…