Chapter Two: Helga meets #DIEGO in #Paris
“My girlfriend and I decided to go back to #Paris in January 1960 to study for another period. Shortly after that I met DIEGO one Sunday afternoon my girlfriend Eve and I were sitting in a very famous coffeehouse which was frequented by many artists: Les Deux Magots http://www.lesdeuxmagots.fr/en/ambiances.php#/ambiances.php
Suddenly an Italian sculptor, #Gigi Guadagnucci http://www.gigiguadagnucci.com/ (whom we had already known from before) entered together with Diego (had never seen before) and they came to sit at our table. We had a nice chat and some time later they left. See Gigi Guadagnucci below.
I didn`t see #DIEGO for several weeks and then one day I was in a Bank to change some money when I heard a voice behind me….”Mademoiselle Helga…”, I turned and saw #DIEGO behind me and he said: “Can I give you a lift with my car?” I must say at that time I had met many artists who were quite poor, they were all seriously working, they mostly had small ateliers, no comfort, happy when they sold a painting, and then invited the others. And when they didn`t sell – just eating bread and black coffee. Nobody had a car, in fact #DIEGO was called: “el pintor con coche” (which means- the painter with a car). So, when I heard #DIEGO inviting me in his car I thought: this man is showing off, besides the car he was very well dressed, like a businessman. So I said: “I have to go to school and it`s very close, I can walk there, I don`t need a car.” Finally he convinced me to sit in his car and he explained to me that he had seen me, left the car outside the Bank at a corner (double-parked) in order to follow me and that he had to move the car. See Diego’s in 1954 and an example of Opel Kapitan car below.
Okay, this was the beginning of a 25 years lasting love, we stayed together until December 1985 when #DIEGO died of lung cancer. In #Paris we stayed until October 1960. We had a wonderful time, I became acquainted with another part of Paris, we went to fantastic Restaurants, we met very interesting people, many artists, long discussions in – La Coupole– http://www.lacoupole-paris.com/en/, a famous place, that has been frequented by such artists as such as Yves Klein (painter), Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir (both writers) and many others.
#DIEGO was living in a small Hotel near the Seine, he did not really work, just a few sketches from time to time and I was wondering how he was financing his living. He made a big secret about his finances. He spent quite a lot of money, he had a big car and he hardly worked. From time to time he went off from #Paris for a few days or a week and then everything went on again. He told me that he was separated from his wife Josiane, maiden name Schäfer, she was from #Geneva, #Switzerland. I know that he had been living with her for some time in #Geneva and also in Wiesbaden but how he made his living at that time I don`t know. Whether he was painting or not, he never talked about it.
Some time later I found out that #DIEGO was doing caricatures in American Officers Clubs in #France, #Germany and later on also in #London and #Spain. He did wonderful caricatures, it took him about 10 minutes to do each one and people were crazy about them, they stood in line waiting for their turn. He made a lot of money with this, I`m sure there are still many Officers who remember him. When I said to him why was he not painting or only a little he said that he was studying people and he would start later on.” – written by Helga Voci
To read Chapter One: https://diegovociproject.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/helga-and-diego-voci-by-helga-voci/
Courtesy of www.diegovociproject.com
Diego Voci on YouTube and Google.
This site is authorized by Helga Voci, sole owner of the Diego Voci Estate.
6/11/2010 AC DV History #33
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