{"id":1640981,"date":"2026-04-08T07:00:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1640981"},"modified":"2026-04-07T22:40:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T02:40:39","slug":"marchesa-luisa-casati-the-socialite-who-spent-a-fortune-on-living-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/04\/marchesa-luisa-casati-the-socialite-who-spent-a-fortune-on-living-art\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Outrageous Woman Who Ever Spent a Fortune"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1640992\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1640992\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1640992 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1151385823-e1775611520180.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A close-up portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati, her face framed by her hands, wearing a fur-trimmed garment and her signature heavily kohl-lined eyes. The sepia-toned photograph captures an unusual stillness \u2014 intense but unperformed, unlike nearly every other image she left behind.\" width=\"970\" height=\"859\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1640992\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luisa Casati, the woman who once led a tigress on a silver chain. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo by Fine Art Images\/Heritage Images\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spending money <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">well <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is its own kind of skill. It requires a certain amount of creativity, and daring, and aesthetic appreciation. It is an ability that is almost as valuable as earning money. You might not recognize that talent now, for the internet is peppered with men\u2014mostly men\u2014declaring that no matter how much money you earn, you should spend none of it. Because, you see, that way you will have <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more money<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. And then you will die with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lots of money<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How dull.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No one ever surpassed the Marchesa Luisa Casati Stampa when it came to creativity in spending. Although you might not have expected this from her.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The woman later known as \u201cthe divine Marquise\u201d, Luisa Adele Rosa Maria Amman was born on January 23, 1881, into a family of immensely wealthy Milanese textile merchants. If Luisa was known for anything in her childhood, it was her almost pathological shyness. She spent most of the time painting alongside her sister, playing dress-up and listening to fairy tales from her adored mother. Luisa would <a target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abebooks.com\/9780967052724\/Infinite-Variety-Life-Legend-Marchesa-0967052726\/plp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"2936448\">later recall<\/a> some of her happiest childhood memories as being those of her mother tucking her into bed before heading out to galas, when \u201cher laces, jewels, and pearls brushed my face, mingling with the scent of her perfume.\u201d<\/span><sup id=\"ref1\"><\/sup><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As often seems to be the case when you encounter a historical figure, her mother died when she was thirteen. Her father followed two years after, leaving Luisa and her sister, two of the wealthiest heiresses in the country, in the care of their aunt and uncle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1640990\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1640990\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1640990 size-full-width\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"\" width=\"970\" height=\"1784\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg 4238w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=163,300 163w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=768,1413 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=326,600 326w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=835,1536 835w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=1113,2048 1113w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=970,1784 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=320,589 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=1920,3531 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=27,50 27w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1640990 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"\" width=\"970\" height=\"1784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg 4238w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=163,300 163w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=768,1413 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=326,600 326w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=835,1536 835w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=1113,2048 1113w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=970,1784 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=320,589 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=1920,3531 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-961793706.jpg?resize=27,50 27w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1640990\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giovanni Boldini&#8217;s portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati, with a Greyhound, 1908. Private Collection. <span class=\"media-credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By that time, Luisa was six feet tall. She was also skeletally thin in an age when beauty was defined by a curvaceous figure. And she still didn\u2019t really want to talk to anyone. She proceeded to chop off her hair into a bob. This was in 1898\u2014far before the 1920s, when the style would become a fashionable trend. It\u2019s possible she did this specifically to deter suitors. It looked incredible on her. She would reinvent herself countless times, but she always kept the hairstyle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And she did marry\u2014spectacularly well.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1900, at the age of 19, she married the Marquess Casati Stampa di Soncino, a great huntsman as well as an extremely rich and titled man. They had a daughter together by the time Luisa was 20. And then she had a lifetime of a table with a little piece of meat between them to look forward to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was around this time that Luisa met the writer Gabriele D&#8217;Annunzio, who would introduce her to surrealist society. D\u2019Annunzio was famous as much for his womanizing as for his literary output. He gravitated toward wealthy women who paid his expenses, and in return, they were usually immortalized in a poem. When he met Luisa, he was immediately struck by the figure she presented. When he asked her what it was like to have such a striking appearance\u2014a comment that probably served to flatter most beautiful women he directed it toward\u2014the Marchesa replied that she was constantly orchestrating her appearance in the manner of an artist with a piece of work. <a target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marchesacasati.com\/infinite-variety\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"2936449\">She spoke to him<\/a> about \u201cimprinting her image on the very air, as if a retentive material, and leaving behind her a succession of impressions.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Art seemed to be more important to Luisa than men. D\u2019Annuzio aside, who seemed to communicate largely through cryptic notes with her referencing their shared obsession with black magic, the Marchesa wasn\u2019t really known for her romances. It\u2019s interesting that, during an age, a country and a social class where love affairs were a commonly accepted pastime, the Marchesa Casati seemed to have little amorous inclination. She was not spending time on her appearance to be desirable. She was spending time on her appearance to transform into a piece of living art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During this turn of the century period,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">her visage took on the characteristics that surrealists would later immortalize in their paintings. She dyed her hair red and began rimming her large green eyes with black kohl. She left her family, and D\u2019Annunzio led her to Venice, his favorite city. There she transformed the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni (an aside\u2014it now houses <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/tag\/peggy-guggenheim-collection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"2936450\">the Peggy Guggenheim Collection<\/a>), built in the 15th century, into a kind of stage for her to elaborately dress up, just as she had done as a child, though in far more thrilling fashion. This time, she had accessories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1640983\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1640983\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1640983 size-full-width\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"Marchesa Luisa Casati standing in a full-length jeweled gown with an enormous starburst headdress radiating outward like a crown of spears, photographed in black and white. Stars are scattered across the costume. She stands in near-total darkness, the effect more celestial apparition than human being.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1493\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg 2515w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=195,300 195w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=768,1182 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=390,600 390w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=998,1536 998w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=1330,2048 1330w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=970,1493 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=320,493 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=1920,2956 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=32,50 32w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1640983 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"Marchesa Luisa Casati standing in a full-length jeweled gown with an enormous starburst headdress radiating outward like a crown of spears, photographed in black and white. Stars are scattered across the costume. She stands in near-total darkness, the effect more celestial apparition than human being.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg 2515w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=195,300 195w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=768,1182 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=390,600 390w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=998,1536 998w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=1330,2048 1330w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=970,1493 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=320,493 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=1920,2956 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-3330470.jpg?resize=32,50 32w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1640983\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Casati at the 1922 Bal des Jeux in Paris, in a costume that required its own power source. She was 41. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo by Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich recalled one of her masked balls where she appeared in sweeping robes, \u201cleading a tigress by a silver chain, and preceded by two nude men painted gold from head to foot.\u201d Covering her servants in gold paint would be a recurring motif in the Marchesa\u2019s parties, and one which would later make its way into Ian Fleming\u2019s book <i>Goldfinge<\/i>r. Unlike the Bond film, no one actually died from the Marchesa\u2019s artistic attempts, though one servant did collapse from heatstroke and survived only because the landlord scraped all the gold leaf off his body.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for the Marchesa herself, <a target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2003\/09\/22\/the-divine-marquise\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"2936451\">residents of Venice frequently saw her<\/a> \u201cstrolling through St. Mark\u2019s Square perfectly nude and lunar white beneath a fur cloak, accompanied by two cheetahs on diamond-studded leashes.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At another event, <a target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/article\/detroit-free-press-marchesa-luisa-casati\/32314285\/?locale=en-US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"2936452\">she entered in a golden chariot drawn by two leopards<\/a>, \u201cin an armor- like gown of cloth and with a silver helmet on her pretty head. And wrapped about her waist . . . was the shiny length of an eight-foot boa constrictor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her parties\u2014at the Palazzo, but also at her villa in Capri and her French chateau, the Palais Rose\u2014were attended by artists of so many disciplines, including Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Cecil Beaton, Vaslav Nijinsky, Colette, Marcel Proust, Isadora Duncan, Coco Chanel and every other person you\u2019d want to meet from this period. She enlisted most of them in various tarot readings and seances, which she loved, and which inspired her to periodically wander through the streets carrying a crystal ball.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At her Chateau, she set up an artist\u2019s studio in the gardens for visiting friends. In one of the chateau&#8217;s halls, she hung over 200 paintings of herself by these friends, including career-defining works by Man Ray, Giovanni Boldini and Augustus John. By 1926, it was reported that \u201cevery famous artist of her time has considered it an honor among honors to have La Casati pose for him.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It\u2019s said that she is the most-painted woman after the Virgin Mary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1640991\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1640991\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1640991 size-full-width\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"The museum photo of someone viewing a large nude painting of her is the most contemporary-feeling image in the set and could work as a closing image \u2014 a nice visual argument that she ended up on museum walls.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1497\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg 3503w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=194,300 194w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=768,1185 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=389,600 389w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=995,1536 995w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=1327,2048 1327w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=970,1497 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=320,494 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=1920,2962 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=32,50 32w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1640991 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"The museum photo of someone viewing a large nude painting of her is the most contemporary-feeling image in the set and could work as a closing image \u2014 a nice visual argument that she ended up on museum walls.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg 3503w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=194,300 194w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=768,1185 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=389,600 389w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=995,1536 995w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=1327,2048 1327w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=970,1497 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=320,494 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=1920,2962 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1048041778.jpg?resize=32,50 32w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1640991\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A visitor at a 2018 exhibition confronts Romaine Brooks&#8217; full-scale portrait of Casati, painted circa 1920. By that point, she had been the subject of so many works by so many artists that one more monumental canvas seemed only appropriate. <span class=\"media-credit\">Getty Images for Barbican Art Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her outfits were similarly inspiring, whether she was wearing necklaces of live snakes, a skintight red leather suit, or going to an opera ball covered in the blood of chickens.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In New York, which she visited in the 1920s, she wore low-cut dresses with massive skirts draped over panniers and held together with safety pins. At other times, she would appear dressed as the Virgin Mary or Joan of Arc. Sometimes she appeared with her hair dyed orange and black to resemble a tiger, or else green. She was perhaps most famous for her \u201clight bulb dress,\u201d which was electric, powered by a generator covered in diamonds. The<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">effect was such that the Polish sculptor Catherine Barjansky claimed, \u201cshe was more a work of art than human being.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 1932, she was wildly, outrageously bankrupt, with debts approximating 20 million dollars in today\u2019s currency.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forced to sell her homes, she traveled with weekend luggage, which was reported not to contain the usual items \u201cof a middle aged lady, but Venetian swords, Chinese head-dresses, jeweled crowns and an extraordinary assortment of stage properties and costumes.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her friends encouraged her to sell some of her works to raise funds, but she refused. She was no more inclined to make money than a statue might be. Indeed, the art historian Philippe Jullian noted, \u201cThe Marchesa seemed to have a genuine horror of money.\u201d In her final days in London, she lived in a studio apartment and was seen out rummaging through trash bins, according to Jullian, \u201cnot for food, of course, but scraps of velvet or lace.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> She was buried in a leopard print coat, clutching one of her taxidermy dogs, with an inscription on her grave reading, \u201cAge cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By modern monetary standards, this end may constitute an abject failure of a life. However, far from only influencing the painters of her own time, the Marchesa inspired Vivienne Westwood, Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/company\/marchesa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"2936453\">The fashion brand Marchesa is named after her<\/a>. It is not an exaggeration to say that she foresaw many of the most interesting fashions of the 20th and 21st centuries. Jack Kerouac wrote a poem about a picture of her, declaring, \u201cMarchesa Casati\u00a0\/ Is a living doll\u00a0\/ Pinned on my Frisco\u00a0\/ Skid row wall.\u201d She also inspired a play (starring Vivien Leigh) and a film (starring Ingrid Bergman).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her boldness, her chic, her unwillingness to see her own body as anything but an ornamental canvas made her immortal in the way that a finance expert urging you to never buy anything impractical is unlikely to allow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1640995\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1640995\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1640995 size-full-width\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A painted portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati by Adriana Bisi-Fabbri, set against a nocturnal Venice canal. She wears a flat-topped hat and voluminous dark fur collar, her kohl-darkened eyes staring forward from pale, almost masklike features. The Venice waterfront glitters behind her in shades of deep blue.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1210\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg 3314w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=240,300 240w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=768,958 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=481,600 481w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=1231,1536 1231w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=1642,2048 1642w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=970,1210 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=320,399 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=1920,2395 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=40,50 40w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-1640995 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A painted portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati by Adriana Bisi-Fabbri, set against a nocturnal Venice canal. She wears a flat-topped hat and voluminous dark fur collar, her kohl-darkened eyes staring forward from pale, almost masklike features. The Venice waterfront glitters behind her in shades of deep blue.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg 3314w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=240,300 240w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=768,958 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=481,600 481w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=1231,1536 1231w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=1642,2048 1642w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=970,1210 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=320,399 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=1920,2395 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241497754.jpg?resize=40,50 40w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1640995\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A portrait by Adriana Bisi-Fabbri (1881-1918 places Casati where she was most at home: Venice, after dark, watching. Found in the Collection of Museo del Paesaggio, Verbania. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo by Fine Art Images\/Heritage Images via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Yaccarino, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> University of Minnesota Press, 2004<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Infinite Variety, page 17<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judith Thurman, \u201cThe Heiress Who Blew A Vast Fortune on Fashion,\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New Yorker<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, September 15, 2003<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Italy\u2019s Famous Beauty Who Lives Like A Fairy Princess, The Detroit Press, April 4, 1926<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nancy Baele, \u201cThe Mysterious Marchesa Who Inspired Masterpiece,\u201d The Ottawa Citizen, April 9, 1987<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Marchesa Had A Tiger in Leash,\u201d Evening Standard <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sat, Mar 25, 1939 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before Karl Lagerfeld, before Alexander McQueen, before anyone thought to call fashion art, one Italian heiress was wandering through St. Mark&#8217;s Square in nothing but a fur coat and a philosophy.<\/p>\n <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/04\/marchesa-luisa-casati-the-socialite-who-spent-a-fortune-on-living-art\/\">Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":177935303,"featured_media":1640992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"post_tag":[423943240,423807144,423943456,678,11420,423994666,423795921,423794214],"company":[],"channel":[177,1381,2286,11896,423794960,423868928,423868969,423977823],"location":[8301,423809889,423857482,423867310,423874677],"nyo_column":[424009228],"person":[423931698,423900288,216156,423984260,423979828,423952597,423964321,423902042,423899654,1091086,423912668,424011587,423814027,424011588,424011589,423864039,423865541,423886516,423895609,423888470,632977,423888814],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthor":[195167416],"class_list":{"0":"post-1640981","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-art-history","8":"tag-artists","9":"tag-heirs","10":"tag-history","11":"tag-painting","12":"tag-peggy-guggenheim-collection","13":"tag-socialites","14":"tag-society","15":"channel-arts","16":"channel-parties","17":"channel-lifestyle","18":"channel-wealth","19":"channel-style","20":"channel-fashion","21":"channel-culture","22":"channel-nightlife-dining","23":"location-international","24":"location-venice","25":"location-italy","26":"location-milan","27":"location-europe","28":"nyo_column-socialite-studies","29":"nyo_person-peggy-guggenheim","30":"nyo_person-ian-fleming","31":"nyo_person-pablo-picasso","32":"nyo_person-man-ray","33":"nyo_person-cecil-beaton","34":"nyo_person-vaslav-nijinsky","35":"nyo_person-colette","36":"nyo_person-marcel-proust","37":"nyo_person-isadora-duncan","38":"nyo_person-coco-chanel","39":"nyo_person-giovanni-boldini","40":"nyo_person-augustus-john","41":"nyo_person-joan-of-arc","42":"nyo_person-catherine-barjansky","43":"nyo_person-philippe-jullian","44":"nyo_person-vivienne-westwood","45":"nyo_person-karl-lagerfeld","46":"nyo_person-alexander-mcqueen","47":"nyo_person-john-galliano","48":"nyo_person-jack-kerouac","49":"nyo_person-vivien-leigh","50":"nyo_person-ingrid-bergman","51":"style-socialite-studies"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"null","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/04\/marchesa-luisa-casati-the-socialite-who-spent-a-fortune-on-living-art\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1151385823-e1775611520180.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Jennifer Ashley Wright","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1151385823-e1775611520180.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"A close-up portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati, her face framed by her hands, wearing a fur-trimmed garment and her signature heavily kohl-lined eyes. The sepia-toned photograph captures an unusual stillness \u2014 intense but unperformed, unlike nearly every other image she left behind.\" decoding=\"async\" \/><noscript><img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1151385823-e1775611520180.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"A close-up portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati, her face framed by her hands, wearing a fur-trimmed garment and her signature heavily kohl-lined eyes. The sepia-toned photograph captures an unusual stillness \u2014 intense but unperformed, unlike nearly every other image she left behind.\" decoding=\"async\" \/><\/noscript>","classes":["post-1640981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","tag-art-history","tag-artists","tag-heirs","tag-history","tag-painting","tag-peggy-guggenheim-collection","tag-socialites","tag-society","channel-arts","channel-parties","channel-lifestyle","channel-wealth","channel-style","channel-fashion","channel-culture","channel-nightlife-dining","location-international","location-venice","location-italy","location-milan","location-europe","nyo_column-socialite-studies","nyo_person-peggy-guggenheim","nyo_person-ian-fleming","nyo_person-pablo-picasso","nyo_person-man-ray","nyo_person-cecil-beaton","nyo_person-vaslav-nijinsky","nyo_person-colette","nyo_person-marcel-proust","nyo_person-isadora-duncan","nyo_person-coco-chanel","nyo_person-giovanni-boldini","nyo_person-augustus-john","nyo_person-joan-of-arc","nyo_person-catherine-barjansky","nyo_person-philippe-jullian","nyo_person-vivienne-westwood","nyo_person-karl-lagerfeld","nyo_person-alexander-mcqueen","nyo_person-john-galliano","nyo_person-jack-kerouac","nyo_person-vivien-leigh","nyo_person-ingrid-bergman","style-socialite-studies","entry-grid"],"parent_channels":"Arts, Lifestyle","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1151385823-e1775611520180.jpg?quality=80&#038;w=300&#038;h=225&#038;crop=1","thumbnail_url_2x":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1151385823-e1775611520180.jpg?quality=80&#038;w=600&#038;h=450","excerpt_bare":"Before Karl Lagerfeld, before Alexander McQueen, before anyone thought to call fashion art, one Italian heiress was wandering through St. Mark's Square in nothing but a fur coat and a philosophy.","is_sponsored":false,"formatted_date":"Apr 8","read_time":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/177935303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1640981"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1641023,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640981\/revisions\/1641023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1640992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1640981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_tag?post=1640981"},{"taxonomy":"observer_company","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/company?post=1640981"},{"taxonomy":"channel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/channel?post=1640981"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=1640981"},{"taxonomy":"nyo_column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nyo_column?post=1640981"},{"taxonomy":"nyo_person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=1640981"},{"taxonomy":"nyo_post_hidden","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nyo_post_hidden?post=1640981"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthor?post=1640981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}