Rita Hayworth: The Lady

Andrew Cowdell, The Lady, 2015, oil and silver leaf on linen

The Lady is a silver leaf oil portrait of Elsa (Rita Hayworth) in The Lady from Shanghai (1948). Director Orson Welles stars alongside his estranged wife Hayworth before finalising their divorce. In taking the role of scheming femme fatale Elsa, Hayworth’s image was to undergo a drastic change. She allegedly wanted to break from the character she had become so identified with in her previous hit movie Gilda (1946), so she had her famous long hair cut and bleached blonde. Welles was held responsible for the controversial look, as Hayworth later recalled Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn saying “He’s ruined you - he cut your hair off!”