How could anyone who was always so late leave us so early?

Aviva, larger than life, lives eternal through the artist's hand.
We will miss and remember.

With love ~ always ~

"he muse should be as charming as she is unobtainable." - Stacy Schiff

Sun, December 30, 2007

Dear France -

I was deeply disturbed when Dan Dugan called me with the news yesterday. Minerva provided me with details.

I don't think I have to tell you how deeply saddened I am at Aviva's passing. She was a "mountain of a woman" and will, I am sure, leave a gaping hole in the NY Fine Arts world.
Just think, everyone trained as an artist in NYC over the past 20 years or so and everyone who attended the countless drawing sessions she "performed" at will forever keep her in their hearts and in the images of her they produced.

Aviva lives eternal!

Wshing you health and strength in this trying moment -

BOB COANE.
L'Atelier
"The muse should be as charming as she is unobtainable." - Stacy Schiff, Author

• • •

Sun, December 30, 2007
Oh my word! What a loss this is. Aviva was a very special model and person. She was expressive, playful and sexy. She was large is size, spirit and humor. Her sessions were always the best ones. When she modeled for us the room was always relaxed, fun and inspired. I'd say that most of us did some of our very best work with Aviva and she will always be remembered as one of my favorite models.

I am saddened to learn of her passing and send my deepest sympathy to France.

Barbara Sansone

• • •

Sun, December 30, 2007
I certainly remember Aviva well from the Art Students League. She was the best. Imaginative poses and a wonderful warmth emanating from her that made me want to do her justice in my sketches of her. I also lost a friend this past Wednesday. He was a former dancer and an eccentric?character known throughout the West Village.

If there is an afterlife, I hope they meet. They will have a hilarious time together.

Pamela Matsuda Dunn
pmdart.net

• • •

Sun, December 30, 2007
it's too sad for me to express my sincere feelings about Aviva's death. she taught me more than my students ever learnt from painting her. it is not my place to ask why she left so soon, i can only thank her for enriching my life.

Sam Adoquei
www.samadoquei.com

• • •

Mon, December 31, 2007
During the begining of my first semester of teaching at FIT, I was interrupted by a knock on the door. I opened it to see a vision garbed in jewel like colors that on a lesser being would have detracted rather than accentuate the glow and beauty of this ethereal creature.

She spoke: "I'm Aviva, I'm BIG, I'm BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL!"

She was.

Aviva was all of the above and more, and this legend will always remain so in my memory and my work.

William (Bill) Donovan
FIT

• • •

Mon, December 31, 2007
Aviva, larger than life, lives eternal through the artist's hand.  We will miss and remember.

In Sympathy -

Indeed.

Sys Morch

• • •

Tue, January 1, 2008
Aviva is a legend. For decades she has shared her spirit, her style, and her personality with all the figurative artists of New York. As a muse, she has been as important to the scene as any individual artist. She inspired and challenged us all. Aviva, we love you and we miss you!

Fred Hatt

Click to enlarge

PS - Robert Please forward this to France Hilbert. This is my favorite portrait of Aviva. Fred Hatt

• • •

Click to enlarge

From: Jeffrey Casto Wed, January 2, 2008 I am very to sad to hear the news of Aviva. When someone with so much understanding of life moves on, it is a sad time. She provided so much inspiration to so many artists. What a wonderful, magical, ingenious woman Aviva was. She definitely will live on in images and hearts. I've enclosed a drawing I did of her a few years back on case you want to do a compilation.. Jeff

• • •

From: Mark Robertson
Date: Wed, January 2, 2008
Aviva could make a wall laugh just raising her eyebrow. I loved to draw her. New York is a poorer city without Aviva.

Mark Robertson

• • •

David Veruni
Wed, January 2, 2008
It was easy to do great work when Aviva was onstage- she gave more than just a pose. Her spiritual presence matched the enormity, and beauty, of her physical presence.

Kerrie King 
Thu, January 3, 2008  
The dynamics of room ,either large or small, would change as soon as Aviva entered it ... Her joy of life was shared by all who were lucky enough to know her and paint her .....

Kerrie King

• • •

Click to enlarge

Mon, January 14, 2008 11:47 am  Dear Ms. Hilbert: Please accept our condolences for that most amazing of models, Aviva, whom we last saw six months ago at a Drawathon in Brooklyn. We drew Aviva for many years at Bob Coane's Atelier and were greatly buoyed by her personality and optimism. What most impressed us was the quality of our work that she inspired; upon reviewing our drawings, we found that she had brought forth the best work we had ever accomplished. Her evocative spirit will be truly missed. Brian Coape-Arnold

• • •

Click to enlarge

Mon, January 14, 2008 I've been drawing Aviva since I was at Parsons in the '80's. She was an institution, a grande dame, everybody loved her, and her sense of humor and fun brought out the best in everybody. I feel lucky to have known her, she will be sorely missed. Lee Becker

• • •

From: Gianni rocchetta <giannirocchetta@yahoo.it> 
Date: Wed, June 4, 2008 7:25 pm 
To: rcoane@atelier-rc.com 

Hi Robert.
My name is Gianni Rocchetta. I don't know if you remember me. I posed for you back in 1997 (I lived in New York for seven years). I am Italian, I'm a singer (tenor) and have been modeling for about 14 years.

I just found out yesterday about Aviva's sudden death and I was both shocked and so saddened by the news. I posed an awful lot in New York (I am considered an excellent model) and I actually got really started thanks to Aviva, really. I remember meeting her at Spring Studio in the fall of 1996. We immediately hit it off and became friends and she was wonderful to me right away! She told me she could see I&nbsp;was an excellent and very professional model and she gave me several names and phone no.'s. She saved my life cuz thanks to Aviva I started working quite a bit; and I was able to pay the rent and the bills - and to eat!! also thanks to her! She was a huge help! And considering what a tough city New York is!!

We also had some great laughs. She introduced me to Cindy Klumb, the model coordinator at Pratt Institute and I got so much work from Cindy thanks to Aviva introducing me to her!

God, what an adventure my life in New York was!!! And Aviva played an important role
at the beginning of that adventure!

She will always be in my heart and I will never forget her.

I also remember our phone conversation and some sessions on which we posed together. What a character she was! We laughed a lot. I also remember her brightness and warmth!

And I still remember her saying to me: "No-one makes their eyes up the way Aviva does!".

Aviva you were GREAT!!

And thanks from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful help!!
Remember when I gave you a big Marilyn Monroe photograph (you loved her, like me!) to thank you for your help? I remember that your eyes filled with tears cuz you weren't expecting that and you were touched! I still remember the diner we were at!

Yesterday a few tears came down when I found out about your death.

I know you are somewhere and can see all the outpouring of love for you!

Once again, thanks Aviva! And yes, no-one does their eyes they way you did!!

I don't know if you can post the whole thing cuz it's long! Let me know and I will send you a short version. But please let me know before posting parts of this cuz I'd rather write something shorter with everything in it!

I am also sending some pix of me in case you don't remember me!

Ciao, Gianni. Oh, by the way, I think it's marvelous you created the memorial for Aviva. God, I'm soooo sad she died! I was truly hoping to see her again soon!

Gianni Rocchetta
a life model who knew Aviva and also worked with her in N.Y.

• • •

Subject:   AVIVA
From:   "Charles Katzenstein" <Charles.Katzenstein@TFCornerstone.com>
Date:   Mon, July 6, 2009 2:26 pm
To:   rcoane@atelier-rc.com
Priority:   Normal
Options:   View Full Header |  View Printable Version  | Download this as a file
My calendar told me that Wed is Aviva's birthday.
I'd recently watched a film that I have about her. It was made by a
Japanese filmmaker about 11 years ago in my apartment.
I'd been out of touch with her for some years but decided to search for
her on the web.
I was shocked and saddened to be led to this and other web sites that
announced her death.
She was a warm and wonderful person that I will miss.
Charles Katzenstein

From: rcoane@atelier-rc.com
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 5:06 PM
To: Charles Katzenstein
Subject: Re: AVIVA

We all miss her terribly. She was a New York institution, an inspiration and a wonderful friend.

You can watch an interview filmed by Korean cinematographer Jenny Lee at my studio in NYC around 2001 >>>
http://www.Atelier-RC.com/Atelier.RC/aviva.mov

Thanks for contacting me.

Best -
- ROBERT COANE
www.Atelier-RC.com

Subject:   RE: AVIVA
From:   "Charles Katzenstein" <Charles.Katzenstein@TFCornerstone.com>
Date:   Thu, July 9, 2009 5:12 pm
To:   rcoane@atelier-rc.com

I watched the interview. Thanks.

I was really shocked and sad to learn of her death. And so sorry that I missed the memorials and tributes. I feel like I
did not have the chance to grieve with others who mourned her passing. So I appreciate hearing from you

Charles Katzenstein

 

 

 

 

ARTMODEL







SAMANTHA LEVIN

LUCHO



JAMES P. YATES

http://www.georgebillis.com/artists/chris_wright.html -- gallery@georgebillis.com --
http://www.chriswrightpaintings.com/pages.php?content=contact.php&navGallID=Contact

The 200-Pound Supermodel
By Jeffrey Hogrefe
March 22, 1998

A Career in Many Courses
The centerfold ad for Winston cigarettes in the March 5 issue of Time Out New York read: "On the Web she's blonde hair, blue eyes, 36-24-36." The punch line: She's 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs more than 200 pounds and looks like Divine's evil twin. She is Aviva Stone, a former dancer and plus-size model who has become the most popular nude model at the drawing classes at a Spring Street studio.

In a neighborhood where most diets consist of fruit juice and caffeine, she's being worshipped despite her large proportions. She's even being used to pitch nicotine, another trendy staple.

Paul Lucchesi, a sculptor who has turned Aviva into a Venus in shells for a bronze water fountain, has admired her intently. "She has majesty. She's like a Baroque putto. She's strong but so feminine. Sculpturally, her forms are great."

"Fantasy is a big part of it," Aviva explained, "One of the ways that I work is that in my mind's eye, I think of myself as much thinner-like an insect that carries much more of its own weight. I suspend reality and I turn it around. There is always a narrative, a persona. A live young thing, a sylphlike creature, an alpha wolf, a sleek panther. Juliet's first glance at Romeo. Sometimes I feel like the Princess Maryami, the first wife of Herod. He was so obsessed with her that he had her and her family killed. A young Martha Graham. Elizabeth I. Sometimes I feel like a survivor of the Irish potato famine. A Holocaust survivor. I think of myself as the new Venus of Willendorf, a figure that came out of Europe as a fertility goddess."

Unfortunately for Ms. Stone, the Winston ad was a total surprise. The picture of her in a wide-brim hat and bright red lipstick, her cleavage heaving, originated from a modeling shoot four years ago when Ms. Stone and three other plus-size models frolicked in the surf on Fire Island for photographer Todd Haiman. Mr. Haiman sold the picture to an ad agency, which recently contacted Ms. Stone after the ad had been put together to send her a check. She wasn't sure what to make of the ad copy.

"I thought, Oh my God … Then I said, Oh, so what. Let's have some fun, people. I am not offended because what she is doing is, she's laughing. She's in control of this. It is not like she's some forlorn figure. Who amongst us hasn't played games on the telephone, blind-date games? I used to say that I was born somewhere near Shanghai. But I am really from Newark, N.J."

When Ms. Stone started modeling in the 1970's, she was a "much thinner" dancer who needed extra cash. A few years ago, someone talked her into doing it for the SoHo drawing group.

"I had put on weight. I said, 'Oh, God, do it now? No!'" But the response has been overwhelming. "They just loved my butt. What can I tell you? They just went crazy. It is a pretty solid butt. You'll see that I mean. They said this is great, this is fun, this is fabulous. They were totally happy, and that was the beginning. Suddenly, the girth was welcomed. I mean, you are in a society where everyone is telling you, Take it off.

"Now my friends are telling me, You have a career. Get to the heavy cream."