A 'Titanic' art act ends on a bitter note

 A wannabe British artist allegedly held a waitress prisoner in his flat, trying to “recreate” the famous “Titanic” movie scene in which Kate Winslet allows Leonardo Di Caprio to sketch her in the nude.

Edflar Mendes, 26, is said to have told her co-worker, Beata Lipska that she was his “muse” and threatened to keep her “so he could draw her for ever,” the Inner London Crown Court was told.

The bizarre incident took place after Mendes and Beata Lipska, who worked together at a nightclub had completed their shift, the Daily Mail reported.

Lipska, 29, claimed that Mendes offered to sketch her, telling her it would be just like the scene in the 1997 film in which Winslet allows Leonardo, who plays an impoverished artist, to draw her in nude. However, after Mendes completed his sketch, he refused to show it to Lipska and instead pinned her to the bed, the jury was told.

Lipska said she agreed to go to Mendes’ flat in August last. “He convinced me to come upstairs. He said he really wanted my opinion on his work and he really wanted me to see his art. There was no pressure, he was very friendly, he just invited me to see his work,” she told the jury.

“When we were up there he started talking about trying to draw me. I meant he could make a picture of me from a photo, and sometime in the future. I started showing him photos and he offered to do a preliminary sketch. Eddy asked me to move on to the bed because it was easier for him to use his pallet and brushes. I wasn’t posing though,” she said.

Defending barrister Derek Barry, however, denied that there was a mention about doing it like “Titanic”.

“He was on the bed, sitting on top of me, holding my arms,” Lipska said, adding, “he was saying no one would see me again, I was fighting for my life.” Lipska said she managed to push Mendes away and was able to escape after which she called the police, the court heard.

Mendes denies common assault and false imprisonment.