Venus (film) warms up to him when he starts interacting with her. He takes her to the National Gallery in London to view his favourite painting, the "Rokeby Venus", by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez. Jessie had expressed interest in modelling (Maurice initially mishears this as "yodelling") and Maurice arranges for Jessie to model nude for an art class. As a result of Jessie posing for the art class, and inspired by his favourite painting, Maurice decides to give Jessie the nickname "Venus". Maurice and Jessie develop a passive/aggressive relationship over the course of the film. Maurice is forward in terms of
Venus Victorious death, his family and Guino's family argued over who owned the sculpture, with the former winning out. When Paul Renoir moved to Canada he took the sculpture with him - on his death his widow sold it and the last painting ever painted by Renoir at auction. On 19 September 2013 it was auctioned again, this time by the Ukrainian Institute of America to the Carlos Slim Foundation, which passed it its current owners. A bronze cast from the sculpture is now in Tate Britain. Venus Victorious Venus Victorious (French - "Venus victorieuse"; French - "Venus victoriosa") is a c.1914