FRIENDS - IVY NICHOLSON

IVY NICHOLSON 

(model, actress, singer, artist)

Anyone who knew Giorgio Quintini was used to his recollections of a friend from his youth to whom he often referred. Ivy Nicholson appeared as a main character in his 1960 novel, I malnati, and a photograph of the two of them together was used as the poster of his evening of recollections about his life with fashion, Moda e Modi, which he performed in Ovada in old age.

Giorgio Quintini & Ivy Nicholson in Paris, 1950s

As Giorgio is not here to give us his direct memories of Ivy and there is no typescript of Moda e Modi, perhaps the best way to show the impact she had upon him when they became friends in Paris is to quote from his novel, I malnati, which is dealt with elsewhere on this blog. The protagonist, Andrea, has introduced his friend Eva to another friend, Pablo. Eva is very much based upon Ivy, of whom, in private notes to his novel he writes: "...famosissima top model americana, attrice e pittrice (Gli sbandati di Maselli, Le avventure di Casanove etc.), terrà una mostra personale all' "Obelisco", famosa galleria di Irene Brin e Gasparo dal Corso. Amante di ...". Here are Andrea's reflections on Eva.

I malnati, p.14

 The following has been taken from the internet and is a pocket biography of Ivy Nicholson.

Ivy Nicholson was born Irene Nicholson in Queens, New York to working class Irish Catholic parents. She started modeling at the age of 16, and became very successful, gracing the covers of Vogue and Elle. In those days there was not much in the way of work for older models, so when she turned 30, Ivy sought out acting roles, eventually landing in Andy Warhol's Factory. There she appeared in minor roles in a handful of Warhol films, and met and married Ciao Manhattan (1972) director John Palmer, who was working as a camera man at the Factory. In 1970, Ivy moved to Paris, where she painted and guided her children's careers. Ivy has four children. Her oldest son, Darius DePoleon, is a viscount, and is a musician in Paris. He is in a band called "Eurotrash" with other European royals. Her second son, Sean Bolger, is a fashion photographer in Los Angeles. Her daughter with John Palmer, Penelope Palmer, was a child actress and starred in Le Femme Enfant alongside Klaus Kinski. Penelope's twin brother, Gunther Palmer, was a child model in Paris and is a drummer and vocalist in the band Stagefright.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: scalifornia@iconoclastsf.org

Ivy Nicholson in the kind of photograph she did for Vogue and other fashion magazines.

 For the whole of his life, until he retired into the Castello di Lercaro in Ovada, Giorgio kept two early portraits of himself on his sitting room walls. They had been done by a very competent Ivy Nicholson and they captured him as a young man as nobody else had done.

"Per Giorgio, con tanta curiosità di tua nuova personalità . . . (illegible) . . . Ivy"

"To Giorgio, Ivy"

As stated above and elsewhere on this blog, when, as a racconteur in public and in private, Giorgio started to remember the past, Ivy Nicholson was an important presence in his life.

Giorgio & Ivy in Paris

Ivy Nicholson is still going strong, as anyone can see from her Facebook page and the most cursory glance at her on Google. She has been a part of many people's lives and happily continues to be so.