In the late 1920's, an actress (German, Polish, or Czech depending on the source) named Maria Lani arrived on the Paris art scene. Over the next two years she convinced over 50 artists to paint her portrait on the pretext that they would be used in a horror movie in which she was starring about painting that come to life. In November 1930, the paintings were exhibited at gallery and a catalog of the exhibition was created which included an introduction by Jean Cocteau part of which reads: "Every time I look away she changes... what a hypnotic force the woman has."
The only problem was Lani was a stenographer from Prague (or Warsaw), not an actress and there was no movie. Lani took all the painting that didn't sell at the exhibition and fled to America where many more were sold. By wartime, Lani worked at the Stage Door Canteen in New York, a sort of dance hall for servicemen on leave where they could be entertained by celebrities. After the war she returned to Paris where she died in 1954.
A collection of the images made by the likes of Matisse, Cocteau, & Chagall can be viewed in LIFE. The article is from the war years and in part details her life at the Stage Door Canteen.
The above image is by Chaim Soutine and hangs in the Museum of Modern Art.
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