Vali Myers

Vali Myers (2 August 1930 – 12 February 2003) was an Australian artist, dancer, bohemian and muse whose coverage by the media was mostly in the 1950s and 1960s in Europe and the United States.

Early life Myers was born in Canterbury, Sydney, on 2 August 1930, to a violinist mother and marine wireless operator father. She displayed a talent for art at an early age. The family moved to Box Hill, Melbourne in 1941 and Myers left home at 14.

After working in factories to support her dance lessons, she became immersed in dance and later became the leading dancer for the Melbourne Modern Ballet Company. In 1949 at age 19 Myers travelled to impoverished post-war Paris to pursue a dance career but found herself living on the streets of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Quarter on the Left Bank.

Career Myers was a flamboyant fantasy artist who worked in pen and ink and watercolour as well as being a nightclub dancer. She divided her life between her adopted home of Melbourne, the Hotel Chelsea in New York City, a 14th-century cottage at Il Porto, near Positano and a residence in Paris.

Her art works developed from early detailed monochromes to a full range of vibrant colours and tones extending to watercolour and gold leaf, displaying a "fastidiously rendered depiction of a personal spirit world".

Personal life While in Europe she married Rudi Rappold, an Austrian from Vienna, and moved to Positano. The marriage ended, and later her lover, Italian artist Gianni Menichetti moved in and helped turn the property into a wildlife sanctuary that was endorsed by the World Wildlife Fund.

Later, after she began having seizures, she returned to Melbourne in 1993, and opened a studio in the Nicholas Building; only returning to Positano occasionally.

Books Myers, Vali, 1930–2003 Drawings 1949–79 / Vali Myers. London : Open House, 1980 : Macintosh, M. & Jones, G. (ed), "Night Flower: The Life and Art of Vali Myers" Melbourne : Outre Gallery Press, 2012 : Menichetti, Gianni, Vali Myers Memoirs Fresno, CA : Golda Foundation, 2006 : Van Der Elsken, Ed, Love on the Left Bank Amsterdam : Bezige Bij, 1956 :

Filmography Vali, The Witch of Positano – 1965. A film by Sheldon and Diane Rochlin, co-Produced by George Plimpton. Winner, Documentary Film Category, 1965 Mannheim Film Festival. (Duration: 65 minutes) The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda – 1968. Experimental film by Ira Cohen. (Duration: 22 minutes) Dope – 1968. A film by Sheldon and Diane Rochlin. A documentary about a young London woman's drug addiction in the late 1960s. Vali Myers appears in scenes throughout the documentary. Death in Port Jackson Hotel – 1971. A film by Ed van der Elsken. Features Vali in her "savage paradise", Il Porto, the canyon near Positano where she created her artwork. (Duration: 36 minutes) Vali was the inspiration behind the character of Carol in Tennessee Williams' play Orpheus Descending. Vali is also mentioned in Marianne Faithfull's 1994 autobiography Faithfull. The song "Ballerina Valerie" by Joni Mitchell is about Vali. British singer Florence Welch stated that Vali was a big influence for Florence and The Machine's third studio album, How Big How Blue How Beautiful. Vali Myers was the inspiration of the Ching Ho Cheng painting "Queenie" which is in the permanent collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art.