I had loaned a picture from my private collection to a French museum and today got it back.
It was painted by one of my grandmother’s friends; I think his name was Henri.
My grandmother, Suzanne Bear, had spent many years in Paris and I remember she used to tell me about “le petit Henri” the small Henri who had asked her to pose for his paintings many times.
They got on very well with each other, since they were more or less the same size, but not only for this reason, of course.
Henri – Granny Suzanne said – was a real gentleman, an aristocrat, a count, I think, but he was very unhappy. He felt very lonely and became an alcoholic.
I like this painting in a very special way. It shows my grandmother Suzanne in a café music-hall in Paris, where she invented a dance, which became very famous at that time, the "Bear Can-Can".