I have never seen you without thinking that I should like to pray to you, the world-renowned poet and writer Rainer Maria Rilke once confessed to his one time lover, friend, and mentor Lou Andreas-Salome, who played muse not only to Rilke but also to Nietzsche and Freud. For centuries, artists have been inspired by muses to create poignant works of art and literature; this beautifully illustrated volume is a celebration of these women and the artists they influenced. American Lee Miller was a successful New York fashion model before traveling to Paris to become the apprentice, lover, and muse of surrealist artist and photographer Man Ray; Nancy Cunard, British writer, heiress, and political activist, captivated numerous members of the twentieth century's art and literary circles, including Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot; and Parisian-born artist and poet Dora Maar had a profound influence on the work of her notorious lover, Pablo Picasso. While the lives of these women were very different in most senses, they shared the ability to awaken fervor within some of the world's greatest artists and to influence the work of their Pygmalions. The collaboration of these interwoven destinies continues to fascinate historians, art appreciators, and general readers alike. Farid Abdelouahab depicts some twenty-five women who, through their temperament, beauty, talent, and pure magnetism, enthralled society's artistic geniuses and thus inspired the creation of some of the greatest works of the past centuries.
