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INSPIRED BY | MASTERS & MUSES | WORLD OF CABANA
“You are like a walking Renoir": 104-year-old artist Georgette London Owens recalls with a smile the flamboyant introduction she was given by none other than Salvador Dalí, whose muse she would go on to become. A masterful painter herself, Georgette talks Parissa Mostaedi and Guido Taroni through her extraordinary life and career.
BY PARISSA MOSTAEDI | MASTERS & MUSES | 7 AUGUST 2025
Artist Georgette London Owens, photographed at home in California @ Guido Taroni.
It’s a Thursday afternoon, and we sit with Georgette, 104, in her living room—a modest yet luminous space where the walls pulse with the energy of her Cubist paintings, their fragmented forms and striking, dynamic colors layered in rich succession.
Georgette London Owens’ life is a masterpiece, painted with bold strokes of art, resilience, intention, reinvention, and passion. She has not only witnessed history, including the tumultuous years of World War II and the German occupation of France, but has also lived and created alongside the very artists who defined modern art, sharing moments with icons such as Brâncuși, Picasso, Elsie de Wolfe, Dalí, and Leonor Fini—whom she regards as the greatest surrealist painter.
A member of the Second School of Paris, Georgette was part of the artistic movement that bridged the great masters of Cubism and Fauvism with the avant-garde of the mid-century. “I’ve had a good life. I can’t complain,” she says.
Born in 1920, Georgette was raised in an artistic household. Her affinity for creative expression was evident from an early age when she preferred coloring books over dolls. Her mother, a journalist and art critic, exposed her to museums, salons, and renowned creatives for as long as she could recall. “It was all I knew.”
At 16, she formally entered the art world studying at École des Beaux-Arts, but the rigid techniques did not suit her. A turning point came when she met Cubist painter André Lhote—whose former students include Tamara de Lempicka—and decided to continue her studies under his guidance at l’Académie de la Grande Chaumière. “Thanks to André Lhote, I learned composition and to give free reign to my imagination. His influence shaped me and has given me all my professional possibilities."
While studying with Lhote, she had encounters with Pablo Picasso. “I liked his Blue Period, but not much after that,” she admits. She recalls visiting his studio where he pointed to a shriveled apple placed on a pedestal and remarked, “An apple is like a woman. You must look at it for a long time to appreciate all its qualities.”
Artist Georgette London Owens, photographed at home in California @ Guido Taroni.
In 1944, her debut exhibition at Galerie Poirier in Montparnasse was hailed a great success. Praised by Le Monde as, “very talented and having a sense for color”, her artistic future seemed bright. However, fate took an unexpected turn when she fell in love with an American GI. Lhote, convinced of Georgette’s promising future in Paris, cautioned against marriage, but she chose to follow her heart.
In 1946, she arrived in New York aboard the Désirade. In postwar NY she reinvented herself, finding a home in the world of interior design and a position at the St. Regis hotel. Her work caught the attention of Hollywood’s elite, including Oscar winner Rex Harrison, who commissioned her to decorate his home. It was at the St. Regis that she met Salvador Dalí. Their friendship flourished, and in 1963 she became his muse for La Méduse. For the sitting, her long red hair was braided and drenched in glue to resemble writhing snakes. The price of this artistic transformation was steep—unable to remove the hardened glue, she was forced to cut her hair short and conceal it beneath a turban for months.
In the late 60s, Georgette’s vision expanded into luxury design. She approached Cartier, recognizing the potential of their newly-acquired Fifth Avenue mansion as an ideal space to showcase the richness of French artistry and craftsmanship. Cartier embraced her vision, and she curated a critically acclaimed exhibition featuring works by Lalique, Braque, Poillerat, and Jean Anquetil. This triumph paved the way for further collaborations, including the design of a jewelry line for Pierre Cardin.
Works by artist Georgette London Owens © Guido Taroni.
Yet through it all, painting remained her greatest passion. “Painting is in my blood. I always fall in love with my work—it makes me happy.” In 1980, she settled in Marin County, California and resumed painting full time. Recognizing the need for female artists to have greater opportunities to exhibit their work, Georgette founded the Alliance of Women Artists, exhibiting both her own works and those of her peers in cities around the world. In recognition of her significant contributions and unwavering dedication to the arts, the World of Contemporary Art honored her with the esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award, an accolade she feels privileged to have received.
These days, Georgette devotes her time to working on her memoir. As she reminisces about her youth in Paris, a hint of nostalgia lingers. “If I could, I’d go back to France. But I’m too old to travel. I miss everything—the culture, the people, the landscape.” Yet when asked if she would change anything, she simply smiles. “Oh, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
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