The NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale announced that Olatz Schnabel, the model who was the wife and muse to painter Julian Schnabel for 17 years, has donated Portrait of Olatz Schnabel (1997) to the museum. The news comes a month and a half after the close of the museum’s “Café Dolly: Picabia, Schnabel, Willumsen” show, which brought together work by those three painters.

The nine-foot-tall oil and resin painting, along with four other Schnabel works that Olatz is loaning to the NSU, was unveiled to museum patrons at a dinner on March 11. The portrait depicts Olatz in an 18th-century gown, with her head turned toward the viewer and set against a bluish, nondescript landscape.

In a statement about Olatz’s gift, Julian said, “I had a rewarding experience with the presentation of ‘Café Dolly’ at NSU Art Museum, and I am delighted that Olatz has chosen to recognize the museum and its director Bonnie Clearwater for such a strong commitment to my work.”

Julian left a little gift to the museum as well. Two days ago, he visited the museum and left a painting of his own in the gallery.

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