Scent of a Woman

Background:

“Ahn Duong is an extraordinary painter and sculptor... she is also one of my very best friends. I admire her strength, her beauty and most of all her talent.” Diane von Furstenberg (on Anh Duong)

Anh Duong is a French actress, artist and former supermodel, who currently lives and works in New York. Her paintings has been exhibited in various places around the world, including Japan and Munich, not to mention New York. She has acted in such successful films as “The Mambo Kings” (1992), “Scent of a Woman” (1992), “My Best Friend's Wedding” (1997) and “High Art” (1998). Prior to moving to New York and began her artistic career, Duong was a top model in her native of France.

Duong is married.

Blended Culture

Childhood and Family:

Anh Duong was born on October 25, 1960, in Bordeaux, Gironde, France, to a Vietnamese father and a Spanish mother. She is a trained dancer.

In 2006, Anh married Barton Quillen,an architect and co-owner of Prague Kolektiv. In the ceremony, she wore a dress designed for her by Christian Lacroix.

Multi faceted

Career:

Anh Duong began her career as a model. She became a top model thanks to her work for Vogue, John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, to name a few. In 1988, she moved to New York and started a career as an artist.

One of recognized painters on the New York artistic scene, Duong has specialized in the portrait, mostly the self portrait. Her work is heavily influenced by Egon Schiele and Frida Kahlo. She had her first solo exhibition at the Galerie Jerome de Noirmon in the spring of 1999. She also has shown her paintings in exhibitions throughout the globe such as Munich and Japan.

Duong branched out to acting in 1992 with a small role of Ismelda Perez in the Academy Award nominee “The Mambo Kings,” directed by Arne Glimcher and starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas. Later that same year, she appeared along side Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, Gabrielle Anwar and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Martin Brest's “Scent of a Woman,” which won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Al Pacino) and three additional nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director, among other honors.

After almost four years hiatus, Duong resurfaced on Mary Harron's “I Shot Andy Warhol” (1996), an indie drama based on the life of Valerie Solanas and her relationship with Andy Warhol. The film starred Lili Taylor as Valerie Jean Solanas, Jared Harris as Andy Warhol, Stephen Dorff as Candy Darling and Martha Plimpton as Stevie. The following year, she had a featured role as a dining guest in the commercially and critically successful romantic comedy “My Best Friend's Wedding” (1997), which starred Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett and was helmed by P.J. Hogan and written by Ronald Bass.

1998 saw Duong in two films. She first played the supporting role of Dominique in Lisa Cholodenko's award winning drama, “High Art,” starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell. She then worked with filmmaker Laetitia Masson in “À vendre/For Sale,” a French drama screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

A year after having her first solo exhibition, Duong portrayed Gloria in “Love me” (2000), which reunited her with writer/director Laetitia Masson. It marks her last film performance to date.

In 2001, Duong released the book “Anh Duong: (Self) Portraits,” published by Assouline.

In 2005, Duong made a self appearance in an episode of “The Tyra Banks Show” called “Tyra's Last Walk.”

Awards:
---