Lift Off!
- stephenprince
- Aug 9
- 2 min read
"Lovely, joyous painting!" - Noel Myles
OLD PHOTO:
A photograph, on-line, of the "Bugatti Queen", Hellè Nice, and her famous Type 35 (circa 1930) was the inspiration behind my painting "Portrait of Hellé Nice". It's not every day you come across a vintage photo of a female racing driver standing atop her winning car. My thoughts took up my wish to repeat the use of a stencil, one which came about by way of several previous paintings. In my mind's eye I could see Hellé floating away in her jubillation! So I gave her balloons from an earlier painting!
EXTRAORDINARY STORY:
Mariette Hélène Delangle, better known by her stage name Hellé Nice, was born on December 15, 1900 in Aunay-sous-Auneau ( Eure-et-Loir ). She was a dancer, theatre actress and acrobat, who became a racing driver throughout the 1930s, mainly in Grand Prix.
After openly declaring her desire to compete against men, she won her first race in 1929. Noticed by Jean Bugatti, who took her into his team, she reached an average speed of 194 km/h over the ten laps of the race in December on the same circuit, driving a Bugatti Type 35C. The following year, she set a new women's world speed record. From then on, nothing could stop her. Whether in North American or Brazilian Grand Prix races, she competed against the best drivers of the time. For quite a few years, she was the only woman in Grand Prix racing, driving Bugatti and Alfa Romeo, racing head-to-head with the best – not only in Grand Prix racing but also in hillclimbs, endurance races, rallies, and the famous Monte Carlo. Quickly Hellé, already famous in Paris, became a household name.
Hellé's story is truly one of a socialite model turned trailblazing racer. She led a breathless early life as a socialite, dancer, model and downhill skier, then began a groundbreaking racing adventure in the 1920s and ’30s. In an era as perilous as it was glamorous and romantic, the Frenchwoman suffered a career-defining crash in 1936 whilst competing in Brazil. Several people died. Later, suggestions of Nazi collusion led to Hellé dying alone and impoverished, in Nice. Her unmarked grave was finally inscribed in 2008.
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