Premiere of Richard Whymark's film 'Fiore'

I'm in Peralta, a Tuscan hamlet on the shoulders of the Alpi Apuane, quite a lot this weekend for the premiere of US film-maker Richard Whymark's film 'Fiore', about the life and work of Fiore de Henriquez, who created Peralta and spent much of her life there.  She died ten years ago tomorrow and many of her closest friends and colleagues will be at Peralta to remember her.

This page on 'Art is Life' talks movingly about her life and work.

Fiore was unforgettable - an extraordinary person who was one of the inspirations behind my novel 'The Centauress' and is the subject of Jan Marsh's biography, 'Art and Androgyny' which will be re-published shortly by The Book Mill.

This is an extract from her life story:

"Born in pre-war Trieste under the twin sign of Gemini, she discovered during puberty that she was, in fact, hermaphrodite. This theme of duality was to run through all facets of her fascinating and varied life – her art, her friendships, her romances and her self-image; it was possibly this struggle between the warring sides of her nature that gave Fiore’s art its vitality and extraordinary diversity.1

After experiencing an epiphany of purpose in Venice, she developed an enormous talent for sculpting and began working in the male-dominated world of fine art. Her first creation was entered in an anonymous sculpting competition; when she won, the other male entrants, discovering she was female, threatened to blow up her work.

She fled to England and immediately became a consort of the rich and famous, who were attracted to the young, androgynous, provocative Italian sculptor with her perceptive talent and forceful persona. . . .'   To read more, click here.