Original Fantasy Oil Painting by Natacha Rambova

Hollywood, 1918. Striking original oil painting painted by Natacha Rambova, the wife of Rudolph Valentino. Signed in the lower right hand corner, “Natacha Rambova - Hollywood 1918.” The painting is a very atmospheric and spooky affair in which Rambova depicts a carriage being driven down a gaslit cobblestone street pulled by two demonic looking horses. The passengers in the carriage are a ghoul and skeleton holding the reins and urging the horses on at breakneck speed. In the foreground, a man in a top hat is seen fleeing the path of the hurling vehicle. Painted on canvas, the picture has been expertly relined and cleaned by a noted conservationist. The painting itself measures 23 x 29 1/2 the painting then very handsomely framed to an overall size 28 x 35 inches. Natacha Rambova (1897-1966) was the wife of silent film star Rudolph Valentino during his years of fame. She was a noted dancer, actress, playwright, artist, costume and set designer, art director, Egyptologist scholar and collector of antiquities. The painting is accompanied by a copy of Michael Morris’s Madam Valentino - The Many Lives of Natacha Rambova, the definitive biography. Rambova’s surviving original artwork is rare.