Long regarded as a curiosity in Britain for her early poems, which taken at face value could be nonsensical, and for her flair for attracting publicity for herself and her brothers, Sitwell was rapturously received in the United States. Horst photographer her in the Vogue studio, New York, during a recital tour. ‘She is fantastic, definite, an eccentric,’ pronounced Vogue in an unconscious parody of her own wordplay. Later she would go to Hollywood, where she was enchanted with Marilyn Monroe. She feuded famously with many sacred cows, including Noel Coward, who delighted her by walking out of the first performance of her long poem Façade (1922) with experimental lines such as ‘Also the hairy sky that we/Take for a coverlet comfortably’. Accompanied by the music of William Walton, she recited through a megaphone. Horst’s recollection of her: ‘Edith Sitwell wore extravagant clothes and jewels; usually the clothes did not fit at all, they just hung… She was very proud of her nose and said “Oh this is a Plantagenet nose”... I wanted a very strong picture with a defined shape. I wanted to make the connection to Old England and literature.’ Horst lunched with her at Oyster Bay and introduced her to Garbo, of whom she commented, ‘A charming woman. Not at all like an actress.’