Roberta Latow

Muriel Roberta Latow (September 27, 1931 – February 4, 2003) was an American art expert, gallery owner, interior designer, and erotic author. She has been credited with giving Andy Warhol the original idea to paint Campbell's Soup Cans and the 200 One-Dollar Bills silkscreens, and her written works reflect her travels throughout Europe. Her later erotic fiction also reflected her knowledge and experience in the worlds of art. Biography Early life and art career Latow was born on September 27, 1931, in Springfield, Massachusetts. She had an early interest in art and moved to New York City to study interior design at Parsons School of Design. She then worked as an interior designer in Manhattan, during which time she befriended numerous prominent abstract and pop culture artists of that era, including Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol. She actively participated in the "pop art scene" in the 1960s and became "famous for her generosity and the wild parties in her Mayfair apartment. The carpets were of fur, indoor trees reached to the high ceilings, from which canaries sang in cages and Roberta herself looked magnificent in extraordinary jewelry and eastern garments."