Nude study of Lina Horne sitting on a chair. for her 75th birthday
The story begins, as such stories often do, with a friendship — between Peter Colasante and Sherry Horne — unfolding in a lavish apartment at 2029 Connecticut Avenue, right here in D.C. After years of knowing one another, Peter finally voiced what intrigued him so much about Sherry. “I think the reason you’re so beautiful,” he told her, “is because you share a last name with Lena Horne — the most beautiful African American actress and singer of the twentieth century.” Sherry smiled. “Well, of course, Peter,” she replied. “She’s my sister.” A bewildered Peter was soon invited into a fantasy world he could only dream of, finding himself at the center of Lena Horne’s seventy-fifth birthday celebration, just a few doors down from L’Enfant. It was there — inspired by Peter’s suggestion — that Lena decided to gift herself a portrait of her own seventy-five-year-old nude body, rendered in elegant graphite on paper by none other than Bartow Diehl. And that is how this quietly audacious nude came to reside at L’Enfant Gallery, leaving Peter, at last, with a happily-ever-after to his lifelong crush on Lena Horne.