Rita Hayworth Meets Nefertiti

These screenprinted Rita Hayworth Meets Nefertiti chair covers were created for a 1985 Tut’s Fever installation—providing seating for Red Grooms’ (Luong’s husband) theater at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (now part of the permanent collection of Museum of the Moving Image).

Tut’s Fever is a working movie theater and art installation created by Red Grooms and Lysiane Luong, an homage to the ornate, exotic picture palaces of the 1920s. Inspired by the tomb paintings they saw during a trip to Egypt, Grooms and Luong covered the walls, floor and seats of the theater with hand-painted, Egyptian-style depictions of Hollywood royalty. Silent screen star Theda Bara works the box office, Mae West stands behind the concessions stand, and Mickey Rooney is the usher. Rudolf Valentino, Elizabeth Taylor and many others grace the walls, and each slipcovered chair in the theater features an image of Rita Hayworth.