Hollywood is not any stranger to like tales that transcend artwork, tradition, and time. This week, activist and entrepreneur Veronika Mudra Lewis and her husband, the celebrated artist RETNA, unveiled a placing black-and-white portrait impressed by one of the crucial legendary images of the twentieth century: Liza Minnelli and Ben Vereen’s intimate “I Received You” embrace.
The unique picture, first printed in Newsweek and later celebrated worldwide, captured Minnelli and Vereen in a young, bare-shouldered pose that radiated vulnerability, unity, and fearless devotion. Many years later, the {photograph} stays a cultural milestone — each for its uncooked intimacy and for the quiet boldness of celebrating a union that was not broadly accepted on the time.
Now, Veronika and Marquis Lewis carry that visible language into the current. Their recreation is greater than homage — it’s a declaration of their very own love story, one constructed on artwork, resilience, and shared objective.
Honoring a Legacy
When Minnelli advised to Vereen that they take “an image simply of us,” the ensuing {photograph} grew to become immortalized as a logo of unconditional love. Vereen later recalled, “I bought you” — a sentiment that transcended phrases and have become a timeless visible vow.
For Veronika and Marquis Lewis, revisiting that picture meant weaving their very own narrative into historical past’s cloth. “It wasn’t nearly recreating a pose,” says one insider near the couple. “It was about capturing the essence of two individuals who carry one another by each triumph and problem.”
A Marriage Rooted in Artwork & Devotion
Whereas Minnelli and Vereen’s bond lived in a non-public, fleeting bubble, Veronika and Marquis’ relationship has flourished publicly, typically on the intersection of creativity and advocacy. She—the Ukrainian-born human rights chief and entrepreneur. He — the Los Angeles native whose hieroglyphic script murals have reworked metropolis partitions and luxurious manufacturers alike. Collectively, they’re constructing a wedding that balances private intimacy with inventive collaboration.
The brand new {photograph} echoes that equilibrium. RETNA’s arms draped round his spouse Veronika are directly protecting and grounding, whereas her gaze radiates energy, vulnerability, and defiance — all qualities which have outlined her personal journey from survivor to international advocate.
A Fashionable Love Story
Very like the Minnelli-Vereen portrait challenged conference within the Seventies, Veronika and Marquis’ picture speaks to as we speak’s cultural panorama — the place love may be boldly celebrated throughout platforms, transcending the personal sphere into collective inspiration.
Their story isn’t solely about romance — it’s about constructing collectively. From staging museum-scale exhibitions to advancing social change by campaigns, their partnership displays a fusion of artwork and activism. Simply as Minnelli and Vereen’s {photograph} lives as a testomony to fearless love, Veronika and Marquis’ tribute positions them as fashionable custodians of that very same message: love as a pressure that protects, heals, and endures.
Extra Than a Recreation
The brand new picture, titled merely “I Received You – A Tribute,” stands as each a love letter to historical past and a signature marker of their very own bond. With its uncooked black-and-white tones and highly effective embrace, it bridges many years, reminding us that intimacy — whether or not captured in 1975 or 2025 — stays common.
As one Hollywood insider famous, “This isn’t nearly echoing a pose. It’s about saying: We’ve bought one another. In love, in artwork, in life. And that message won’t ever exit of fashion.”
Takeaway: By recreating one of the crucial well-known images in American cultural historical past, Veronika Mudra Lewis and RETNA remind us that love tales are usually not simply inherited—they’re reborn, reimagined, and retold for brand new generations.
