I remember fondly Elaine's mischievous wink in her eye, as she introduced me to the guests in tuxedos and evening wear, who dubiously inspected me from head to toe...
And then, I recall fighting laughter as hearing her knowingly specify, as an explanation of my poor looks, that I was an artist -and in addition, a French artist... something which immediately lit a glimmer of understanding and indulgence in this lavish party's guests' eyes…

I remember the day when we stopped at a gas station, and there, a big carnival teddy bear (a sort of Christmas mascot) began to parade around the Brazilian woman, under our mutual bursts of laughter.
I see us again, when the exhibition ended, when I gave Elaine one of my favourite paintings “Le Baigneur au Congrès” as a thanking... I still can see the tears that came to our eyes then, to our great mutual embarrassment. I see her and I hear her in the company of her faithful Zé who worked with her, at the time of the farewells when I left the Renato Russo Center in a taxi for the airport. Elaine sent me a kiss that she consigned to the red Cerrado's wind  - a breeze of friendship that I still feel on my cheek today.
Finally, I remember that beyond the human qualities that are typical of her, beyond our laughs and our pains, beyond the memory of our years of hardship which never prevented us from keeping hope, and our victories which always taught us that nothing can ever be taken for granted, I certainly owe this beautiful human being the most beautiful exhibition of my career, the one which consisted of a retrospective of all my work devoted to Brasilia.

Exhibited by Brasilia.
Exhibited in Brasilia.

What more could one ask for?